WLKY: Mayor announces 'Solarize Louisville' program in effort to increase sustainability
Norman Seawright, WLKY
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced the "Solarize Louisville" initiative, which encourages more Louisville residents to consider adopting solar energy by educating residents about the process of transitioning to solar power and partnering with businesses to offer discounted rates for solar panel installation.
"Sustainability is an incredibly high priority," Greenberg said. "It's essential and key for what we're doing to try and build a safer, stronger and healthier city."
The program is a rebrand of the "Solar Over Louisville" initiative, with the identical goal of approaching 100% renewable energy usage in the city. The program is also open to the seven counties around Louisville Metro beyond Jefferson: Oldham, Spencer, Shelby, and Bullitt counties in Kentucky (and Indiana's Harrison, Floyd, and Clark counties).
Click here for program details
"It is an investment," said Zach Wieber of Icon Solar, one of the partner businesses. "But what is true about all of that is it's a lot less expensive for you to make your own electricity than it is to purchase it from the utility."
The educational component aims to help residents understand how adding solar power to their homes can benefit them—or how their homes might not actually be a good fit for adding panels.
"You might get 30 panels on one house that does a third as much as 30 panels on another house," said Nicholas Hartnett, owner of Pure Power Solar (the other partner business). "It comes down to being honest with what you're telling them."
The process can be intimidating, but the Mayor's Office of Sustainability wants to ensure residents are fully equipped to make informed decisions.
"We don't want people to feel pressured into it or go into it without all the information," said Sumedha Rao, Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Sustainability. "Our goal is to get them as comfortable as possible."
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