September 27th, 2022
By Lori Sallet
FARMERS POWERING COMMUNITIES: American Farmland Trust, Edelen Renewables and Arcadia Announce Partnership to Combat Climate Change by Advancing Smart SolarSM
Safeguarding America’s Most Productive Farmland and Ranchland from Development While Expanding Equitable Access to Renewable Energy
WASHINGTON – SEPT 27, 2022 – American Farmland Trust, Edelen Renewables and Arcadia today announced a partnership, Farmers Powering Communities, to combat climate change through solar energy development while protecting America’s farmland and ranchland for growing food, fuel and fiber. The partnership provides more farmers with the opportunity for a new revenue stream and brings renewable energy to communities where it has not yet been available.
Farmers Powering Communities will advance community solar projects of 25 to 50 acres to provide green energy to those who do not have access to rooftop solar – connecting them with local solar farms and bringing resiliency to more Americans. Increasing numbers of U.S. residents have installed rooftop solar on their property, but two-thirds of Americans cannot do so, either because they live in multi-family dwellings or because they rent their homes or because they cannot afford it. Community solar projects bridge the gap, connecting people to shared solar facilities. The partnership will identify the best land for new solar farms, establish installations and link them to local energy providers who will provide the power to residents at costs lower than the market average. Together, the partners will work to create 500 megawatts of community solar capacity in five years.
AFT’s Smart SolarSM principles will guide the location of development to ensure that it prioritizes solar siting within the built environment (rooftops, carports, irrigation ditches), on disturbed and contaminated lands (brownfields, landfills, reclaimed mining lands), and lastly, on marginal agricultural land instead of prime farmland. Where solar development occurs on good farmland, the installation should be agrivoltaic—or dual-use — allowing farming or ranching to continue in concert with solar energy production. As we build new solar, it’s critical not to harm agricultural systems which themselves help combat climate change by sequestering carbon.
“Farmers are on the frontlines of climate change, experiencing extreme weather events that impact their crops, livestock and livelihoods,” said John Piotti, AFT president and CEO. “We also know that farms can be part of the solution to the climate crisis. Farmland can draw carbon from the air to rebuild soil when farmed using climate-smart practices like cover crops and reduced tillage. We need to dramatically ramp up solar energy production while retaining our farms and ranches. That’s what this partnership is all about. Doing solar the right way and putting it in the right place is what we call Smart Solar.”
“For too long, agricultural land preservationists and green energy advocates have been at cross purposes,” said Adam Edelen, founder and CEO of Kentucky-based Edelen Renewables. “Bringing together those working to feed the planet with those working to power America offers an inspiring and workable path forward. This historic partnership will keep family farmers on their land, open a new front in battling climate change and benefit the checkbooks of lower-income ratepayers. This is a partnership in which everybody wins and is proof positive that Americans can bridge divides to make our communities, country and the world more sustainable, prosperous and resilient.”
“Arcadia was founded on the simple idea that everyone deserves access to clean energy, and our technology platform already manages over one gigawatt of cheaper, cleaner community solar for communities across the U.S.,” said Kiran Bhatraju, founder and CEO of Arcadia. “The nation’s farmland communities have long been on the front lines of climate change, and this partnership will give them a powerful new weapon in that fight, all while providing steady new revenues.”
“The partnership between Edelen Renewables, American Farmland Trust and Arcadia is representative of solar energy’s new frontier, said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO for the Solar Energy Industries Association. “Community solar projects are key to making clean and reliable solar power more accessible to families that have been left out of the renewable revolution. Together, these organizations will work to ensure that all parties involved, including landowners, rural communities, and developers, benefit from these sustainable energy developments.”
Development will begin in 2023 across a number of states that have active community solar programs, including ME, MA, RI, NY, NJ, DE, MD, DC, VA, IL, MN, CO, NM, and OR. The partnership will also accelerate community solar access across the country through state and federal policy advocacy.
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American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.
Contact: Lori Sallet, Media Relations Director ● lsallet@farmland.org
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Edelen Renewables is a Kentucky-based solar development firm with a founding mission of bringing the promise of renewable energy to the forgotten places of America. Actively advancing 20 renewable energy projects in 11 states, the firm specializes in “social impact solar,” a development approach that maximizes the local social and economic benefits to the communities in which they develop.
Contact: Adam Edelen, CEO Media Relations Director ● Adam@edelenrenewables.com
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Arcadia is the climate technology company enabling the zero-carbon economy. Founded in 2014 on the belief that everyone deserves access to clean energy, Arcadia manages the nation’s leading community solar program, helping to tackle energy injustice while spurring economic growth with more than 1 GW of solar under management.
Contact: Gabe Madway, VP, Communications ● gabe.madway@arcadia.com