PSEF's History

In 2018 BIPOC Organizations (including the NAACP, Emerald Cities Collaborative , Climate Justice Alliance and the Indigenous Environmental Network), The Working World, and Energy Cooperatives and Nonprofits (including Cooperative Energy Futures (MN), Co-op Power (MA, NY, VT), Local Clean Energy Alliance (CA), People Power Solar Energy Co-op (CA), Cleveland Owns (OH), and Ashland Energy Co-op (OR)) came together to form the People’s Solar Energy Fund in order to build community-led, community-owned solar. 

We pooled our projects, our financing models, our community organizing and project development best practices, and created this nonprofit loan fund to do peer technical assistance and training and raise capital to support EJ community solar projects.   

We’re here to tell the world that it’s not only possible for low income communities and communities of color to own their own solar, it’s essential that communities be allowed to own their own solar so that they can become self-sufficient, have energy resources to save lives in their communities in a disaster, create quality jobs, reduce their community’s energy cost burden, and generate profits to reinvigorate their local economies.