PSE launches Community Solar at Olympia High School

This is one of two solar installations in PSE’s service area with more locations under development

BELLEVUE, Wash. (11/10/2021) PSE partnered with Olympia School District to launch Community Solar, a new voluntary renewable energy program now available for customer subscription.

Located at Olympia High School, the first solar installation in the program features more than 500 solar panels installed on the roof of the school gymnasium building. The installation provides 200 kilowatts of AC power (kWac), which equates to approximately 135 “shares” available for subscription to PSE electric customers.

“We are excited to be launching Community Solar in partnership with Olympia School District,” said Will Einstein, Director of New Product Development. “Being able to offer our customers the option to subscribe to renewable energy generated within our communities is the right thing to do and helps us create a clean energy future.”

The program opened enrollment in August allowing customers to subscribe to the shares of 100 percent local solar energy. Subscriptions for the Olympia High School site sold out within two hours of launching enrollment.

Olympia High School students will benefit from the solar installation through educational partnership opportunities with PSE.

"We are proud to partner with PSE to bring solar energy to our community, while at the same time providing learning opportunities for our students," said Patrick Murphy, Olympia School District Superintendent. "This project aligns with OSD Student Outcome #6 which has an indicator that states that our students will "advocate for and contribute to local, regional or global improvement by utilizing natural resources in an efficient, sustainable way."

The solar energy generated by customers’ shares reduces their carbon footprint by replacing some or all of their regular electricity use with renewable energy, allowing them to share the benefits of solar without the need to install or maintain their own rooftop solar panels.

A second location, the Kittitas Community Solar site located near Ellensburg, WA, is under construction and expected to be fully operational by the end of the year. Other sites located in Western Washington are still under development and will be announced next year.

PSE is committed to working together to create a clean energy future for all while setting an aspirational goal to be a Beyond Net Zero Carbon company by 2045. PSE will target reducing its own carbon emissions to net zero and go beyond by helping other sectors to enable carbon reduction across the state of Washington. Partnering with our customers like this helps PSE engage more people in that mission.

To learn more about Community Solar, visit pse.com/communitysolar.

Media Contact:
Andrew Padula, 888-831-7250, psenewsroom@pse.com

 

Puget Sound Energy is proud to serve our neighbors and communities in 10 Washington counties.
We’re the state’s largest utility, supporting approximately 1.2 million electric customers and 900,000 natural gas customers.
We aspire to be a beyond net zero carbon energy company by 2045.
For more about us and what we do, visit pse.com. Also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.