The clean energy transition across the U.S. is a very uneven playing field. While some states are making exceptional progress, others lag so far behind in the decarbonization race that it’s an environmental justice issue. Informally known as “coal country”, there is no state more reliant on coal for its electricity than West Virginia (89% of its grid is coal-based). In fact, West Virginia’s grid is so coal-dependent that the carbon emissions reductions from just one solar panel are equal to roughly 150 solar panels in Vermont.
That fact drew Transsolar and WattCarbon together – uniting over the shared goal of cutting carbon where emissions impacts are the greatest.
Transsolar, a climate engineering firm, is investing in rooftop solar projects in West Virginia, reducing over 200 tons of carbon emissions in 2024. Transsolar purchased the energy attribute certificates (EACs) from West Virginia solar developer, Solar Holler, through WattCarbon’s OpenEAC Exchange. The capital will help Solar Holler lower the cost of solar panels for their customers and accelerate deployment of new projects.
Transsolar fosters innovation in the built environment. They believe that the planet deserves better than building-as-usual – over-engineered systems supporting static, placeless, unhealthy, and uninspiring environments. Design and engineering must work together to reimagine the spaces that shape our lives.
“Part of Transsolar’s mission is to decarbonize the built environment. We realize that supporting the construction of new renewable energy sources is essential to this process. This is why we decided to fund Solar Holler in a grid which needs to be decarbonized as soon as possible. In WattCarbon we found a partner who sees climate action in the same way as us, that is: you are either decarbonizing, or you are not,” says Transsolar’s Associate Partner, Tommaso Bitossi.
Solar Holler is working to transform the Appalachian coal country into hubs of renewable energy production – empowering communities to mine the sun, not the earth. In addition to carbon savings, rooftop solar delivers huge benefits by saving West Virginia residents on average $1,407 in energy bills per year (source: U.S. Energy Information Administration) – but the upfront costs still make it prohibitive for a lot of folks. Dan Conant, Solar Holler CEO, says “clean energy shouldn’t be reserved for the wealthy. West Virginians have powered this country for centuries and deserve affordable options. This isn’t just about clean energy, or solar panels, or watt-hours: it symbolizes so much more. We are building a new renewable energy economy to demand environmental justice for communities that have been ignored for decades.”
WattCarbon is providing measurement & verification services to certify hourly solar generation from Solar Holler projects, which will be tracked by WattCarbon’s EAC registry, WEATS. WEATS is an independent, hourly registry for certifying and tracking Energy Attribute Certificates that fulfill the standards of the OpenEAC Alliance. WEATS connects directly to energy and carbon data sources for each project and provides a traceable report for all carbon reduction claims.
High-quality EACs that provide transparency into carbon accounting were a priority for Transsolar. “In a rather ambiguous carbon offsets market, it was refreshing to find in WattCarbon a novel approach based on transparency and collaboration to provide economic support, which can effectively finance the decarbonization of our future,” says Bitossi.
“We’re delighted to be partnering with Transsolar to power decarbonization across the last mile of energy usage––distributed energy resources. By unlocking green equity financing for our partners, we’re able to supercharge the most impactful carbon-cutting projects for communities and the climate,” shares WattCarbon’s co-founder and CEO, McGee Young.
To learn more about investing in EACs from distributed clean energy, check out WattCarbon’s OpenEAC Exchange or reach out to info@wattcarbon.com.
So inspiring! Many thanks to all for your brilliant work.