Spring is in the air. As the weather warms and the subtle scent of cherry blossoms fills the air, SharePower community solar subscribers will likely notice another clear sign of the changing seasons on their monthly PEPCO bill in the form of increased bill credits.
During the spring and summer, longer, sunnier days allow the local solar panels attached to your SharePower subscription to receive more hours of sunlight and produce more electricity. The impact of this increased electricity production on your electricity bills often becomes the most obvious right around the time most households see electricity bill spikes from one of the biggest household energy users — air conditioners.
Did you know that air conditioners use about 6% of all the electricity produced in the United States? Air conditioners make high summer temperatures bearable for many households, but high electricity bills in summer months (tied to air conditioner use) ties directly to energy inequity and high energy burdens for households that can least afford that increased cost. Energy burden is the percentage of a household’s income that goes toward energy bills. In Maryland, energy burdens for low to moderate-income households are almost double that of their higher-income neighbors (11. 91% compared to 6.51%). DC households see slightly lower energy burdens overall, but the difference between energy burdens for low and moderate-income households compared to high-income households (7.1% compared to 1.8%) is still stark.
As a SharePower subscriber, you are actively improving energy equity in your community and addressing the disproportionate impact of high energy burdens on households in your community by improving access to clean, solar energy. Thanks to you, no-cost solar energy savings is available to local income-qualified households, and we are able to take a bite out of summer electricity costs together.
Thank you for making a difference for your community and the environment with SharePower!