Name: Putting the Community Back in Community Solar: A case study on consumer-owned energy development
Start: 2025-04-05T10:45:00-0400
End: 2025-04-05T12:00:00-0400

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Saturday April 5, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm EDT

Abromson Room 216

Maine Community Power Cooperative (MCPC) is the result of years of cooperative development work by the Center for an Ecology-Based Economy. From humble beginnings in the western Maine foothills, to being awarded $5M in one of the US Department of Energy’s most competitive grant programs, MCPC is pioneering a disruptive business model that puts people first.

We are a consumer-owned cooperative that develops, owns, and operates small-scale community solar projects on behalf of our members. Think of us as part energy company, part social movement.

Our mission is to provide equitable access to clean renewable energy. Our member-owned cooperative lowers energy expenses and improves resiliency through solar power, energy storage, efficiency and education. We empower communities, strengthen local economies, and promote ecological practices through community-based energy systems.

Our focus on replicable, small-scale projects that utilize dual-axis trackers and integrate agrivoltaic principles turns the tables on large-scale corporate energy development that further enriches wealthy investors at the expense of Maine ratepayers and sensible land use practices.

Mainers export more than $4B each year paying for fossil fuels to power our automobiles, heat our homes, and power our grid. MCPC’s consumer-owned business model keeps energy dollars in our communities. If Maine’s transition to 100% clean energy is to be just, beneficial electrification must be beneficial to all.

Small-scale renewable energy projects strengthen our grid, create good paying jobs, and provide stability to the residents and businesses who need it most. Cooperative ownership ensures profits remain in the hands of Mainers, generating long-term wealth, including for low-income households.

This presentation will address the evolution of the idea from a single cooperatively-owned project in western Maine, to a scalable platform for cooperative ownership of energy generation with national implications.

Speakers

Tyler Adkins

Maine Community Power Cooperative, CEO

Scott Vlaun

Executive Director, Center for an Ecology-Based Economy

Scott Vlaun is a writer, photographer, and since 2013, the founding Executive Director of the Center for an Ecology-Based Economy (CEBE) in Norway, Maine. He is also the Board President of Maine Community Power Cooperative, which was incorporated as a consumer-owned cooperative in... Read More →

Saturday April 5, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm EDT
Abromson Room 216 88 Bedford St, Portland, ME 04101

Workshop

Just Transitions Summit

Tyler Adkins

Scott Vlaun

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