With gas and electric services expected to increase 12.4% by June, a Baltimore nonprofit is offering a solution that could eliminate electricity bills for the most vulnerable residents and make the area a little bit greener.

Civic Works, a nonprofit that provides job training and helps residents make their homes more energy efficient, is installing solar panels for 170 homes of low- and moderate-income families through its program, Baltimore Shines. Civic Works will take responsibility for installation and the maintenance of the panels over the next 20 years.

“We hear every day from residents about housing expenses going up, and we see this as an opportunity to lower their costs and guarantee lower expenses over the next 20 years,” said Eli Allen, the senior program director at Civic Works. “So, there’s no upfront cost. There’s no monthly cost. It’s completely free. The resident gets full benefit of the electricity they’re producing and has the peace of mind knowing, if a squirrel eats through a wire in the solar system, we’ll come in and fix the connection.”

Interested and qualifying residents can apply on Civic Works’ website.

How It Works

The funding for Baltimore Shines comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, of which they said received at least $3 million; the Inflation Reduction Act; federal tax credits and grants from Baltimore and the state of Maryland. In its model, Civic Works owns the solar panels, thus qualifying them for solar tax credits, which they’ll save and use for any necessary maintenance that may occur.

This third-party-owned approach was something Brandon Bowser, the section chief for clean energy and resilience programs at the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), said they hadn’t seen before. MEA thought it was such an innovative approach that, within the Solar Energy Equity Program grant applications, applicants can opt to do something similar.

“I think we need programs like Baltimore Shines all across Maryland,” Bowser said. “It is a locally led effort. The state’s acting as a resource and a subject matter expert to help guide the community to where it needs to go, and I would say that’s the best role of a state.”

According to Bowser, Civic Works has received upwards of $4.6 million in grants to carry out Baltimore Shines.

Like all grantees, Civic Works/Baltimore Shines will be subject to biannual assessments where an MEA representative evaluates the quality of the installation, its operation and whether energy burdens are being reduced and by how much, Bowser said.

How It Could Impact Energy Woes

Civic Works said the 170 solar panels they plan to install could save residents $200,000 annually on their utility bills and reduce carbon emissions by 700 metric tons. Carbon is a greenhouse gas, which has been linked to warming temperatures, something Baltimore has been impacted by.

“The temperatures during heat waves can be several degrees higher within the city, and particularly what’s risky for people is when these temperatures persist at night. Things never actually cool down. And so Baltimore’s relative lack of vegetation, its dark street areas, dark-colored roofs all help to make it more vulnerable to heat waves,” said Benjamin Hobbs, a professor of environmental management at the Johns Hopkins University.

Research from Climate Central released in 2023 found that about 45% of Baltimoreans live in areas where the urban heat island index is 8 degrees hotter on average compared to others. Shading houses and lowering electricity bills are direct benefits of the solar panels Civic Works are installing that would help combat impacts of the urban heat island effect, Hobbs said.

“By being mounted on roofs where people live, they [solar panels] can actually help insulate the house and make it easier to cool,” Hobbs said. “By putting more money in people’s pockets so you save on your electricity bills, then people can afford to keep their air conditioners on, or can afford to buy air conditioners because energy affordability is one reason that folks will suffer with very high temperatures in their houses.”

Hobbs said while Civic Works’ efforts are a step in the right direction, they aren’t widespread enough to make a big difference in the city.

“We need a lot of development like this,” he said.

How It Could Impact Jobs

Civic Works’ initiative to provide job training for those interested in sustainable careers seeps into Baltimore Shines as well. Developing on-the-job trainees is a big focus for Mel Brenan, the director of energy programs at Civic Works.

“One of the things we’re working to do is to increase access to the high-quality careers within the clean energy sector by conducting on-the-job training in-house where some of these installations, many of them, will be done by our in-house team,” Brenan said.

For Brenan, this is just an additional benefit of the program that is intended to serve the people of Baltimore City.

“Not only does [Baltimore] Shines service households and communities with that free, durable, 20-year savings in solar, but it also creates jobs that pay well with partners that are focused on taking our on-the-job trainees and connecting them to these quality careers in the clean energy sector,” Brenan said.