ARLINGTON — The Snohomish County Public Utilities District is accepting applications for an income-qualified solar power grant.
The program, a four-year pilot project, will provide two nonprofit or government organizations with credits for 417 units each from the District’s Community Solar Program.
The program allows homeowners and apartment-dwellers alike to buy into solar energy generated in Arlington.
It lets those who can’t afford their own rooftop solar unit, don’t have an adequate roof or live in rented housing to support the development of solar power.
PUD customers could purchase units from a 2-acre solar panel array just west of the Arlington Municipal Airport, in the Arlington-Marysville Manufacturing Industrial Center. Each unit consists of one-fifth of a solar panel and costs $120. The units sold out in less than a month.
To qualify for the grant, an organization must serve the low-income community and pass the benefits of the grant along to its clients.
“The goal (of the program) has always been to increase the access of solar power to everybody,” district spokesperson Cayle Thompson said.
Over the course of the four-year grant, credit on PUD bills will add up to about $27,500, Thompson said.
After the four years, the District hopes to repeat the grants with another two organizations.
Applications for this round are open until Nov. 17.
Julia-Grace Sanders: 425-339-3439; jgsanders@heraldnet.com.
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