Navisun is planning to design, construct, own, and operate five community solar projects in Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Illinois, and Ampion will handle the subscriber acquisition, billing, customer care, and the long-term subscription management.
Ampion, a community solar subscription management company, and Navisun, an independent power producer, signed a long-term, strategic partnership to bring solar to commercial, industrial and residential customers in the Northeast and Midwest.
The plan is for Navisun to design, construct, own, and operate five community solar projects in Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Illinois, and Ampion will handle the subscriber acquisition, billing, customer care, and the long-term subscription management. Community solar typically involves a customer subscribing to a portion of an off-site solar project’s generating capacity, receiving credits on their utility bills for the electricity produced by the facility.
The projects are expected to produce more than 21 MW and will serve households and businesses in including economically disadvantaged customers. The first development, in Maine, is expected to begin operating in November.
Navisun, headquartered in Massachusetts, reports it has 37 operating assets across 6 states generating greater than 106 MW and 150 GWh annually. Additionally the company has 28 MW of projects under construction and a greater than 300 MW development pipeline. Last year Navisun announced it had secured up to $235 million in debt financing through two separate facilities. The company planned to use the funding to scale its business and execute its project pipeline.
“As the renewable energy industry grows, it also needs to deliver clean energy in a long-term, responsible and sustainable manner,” said Jason Spreyer, CEO of Navisun. “By focusing on the long-term viability of our assets, Navisun ensures the projects we build today will continue to provide sustainable energy for decades to come.”
Ampion was recently in the news for partnering with The Wendy’s Company to help the restaurant chain source renewable energy. Nearly 100 company-operated Wendy’s restaurants and nearly 40 franchise restaurants in New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts are now enrolled in Ampion+, a product that enables organizations to secure renewable energy certificates (RECs), which are a green power procurement strategy that electricity consumers, such as Wendy’s, use to substantiate renewable electricity use claims.
Ampion provides customers to solar performance data, which Nate Owen, CEO and founder believes “leads to happier customers and better site economics”.
“Together, we’re applying long-term, creative approaches to distributed generation markets, beyond the immediate subscriber acquisition phase. This evolving industry requires more sophisticated strategies to expand, and we’re glad we have a partner that shares our commitment to continuing this growth,” Owen said.
