Public Power in a Green City

UPROSE’s solar co-op aims to harness this democratizing potential of solar radiation for the benefit of the community in Sunset Park. Net metering laws allow solar co-ops to feed power back into the grid, running utility electric meters backward and generating income for the community. In addition, the solar co-op will be linked to an UPROSE-initiated jobs program that will train half of the people installing the solar array. It is a concrete realization of the radical calls for climate reparations enshrined in New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which mandates 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040 with a third of all state investments and jobs in climate and clean energy going to communities most vulnerable to climate change or most threatened by the transition away from fossil fuels.