By Lydia Larsen for Inside Climate News.
Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Illinois News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

The Green Energy Justice Cooperative recently placed first, second and fourth in the Illinois Power Agency's second round of community-driven community solar project selection.

Being selected for this solar development program, made possible through the Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, represents an important step in developing and building clean energy projects in Illinois communities. The co-op, founded by environmental justice group Blacks in Green and local partners, is now applying for renewable energy credits totaling $12.5 million.

Green Energy Justice Cooperative's proposals are for three solar developments that together will produce nine megawatts of solar power. The developments, planned for development in or near Aurora, Naperville and Romeoville, will bring down energy costs in low- and moderate-income households as well as Black and brown communities west of Chicago.

Once completed, the projects will allow households that don't have access to or ownership of a rooftop to save money on their electric bills. Subscribers become co-owners of the cooperative and have a voice in the management and share in the profits generated.

Project leaders are now proceeding with applications for renewable energy credits from the Illinois Power Agency, which will help finance the project's development.

"That's a major piece that makes the project financially viable and feasible," said Wasiu Adesope, the project manager at Blacks in Green.

While those renewable energy credits will provide an important piece of funding, the project will also need more financing. Adesope said that they're not just looking for traditional lenders, but financiers that are invested in their cooperative's mission.

While in some cases renewable energy development is located far from the communities who use it, the GEJC developments will be built for and by the community. The Illinois Power Agency's community-driven community solar criteria states that local communities initiate the development and that the projects are located in those communities.

'We Have to Be Involved in Big Projects'

Nearly a decade ago, as part of his position at Heaven's View Christian Fellowship in Peoria, Illinois, the Rev. Tony Pierce began organizing around climate issues and assisting in negotiations for the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act. The bill, which passed in 2016, led to a solar workforce training program that Pierce helped found.

"If we're talking about creating jobs that are going to move people out of poverty into the middle class, particularly with BIPOC people, then we have to be involved in big projects that could hire people at scale," Pierce, the vice president of GEJC, said.

Blacks in Green developed the Green Energy Justice Cooperative with multiple community based organizations, including nonprofits and LLCs affiliated with Pierce's church, in the Chicago area. Pierce said they wanted to develop and own these solar projects.

Pierce and other organizers weren't completely satisfied with some of the 2016 law's outcomes. Despite the fact that 40 percent of the Illinois population identify as people of color, BIPOC contractors ended up with less than 2 percent of the revenue from the Future Energy Jobs Act, according to Pierce.

Pierce returned to the state capital to negotiate what would become the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. He knew they needed to create programs that would enable BIPOC contractors to benefit from the clean energy transition. Although the Future Energy Jobs Act created a community solar program that allowed subscribers to share a large solar project and collect credits for their share of the generated power, few of these projects ended up in Black and brown communities.

The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, passed in 2021, created the state's community-driven community solar program. This program included more involvement from local communities and rules surrounding the projects meant a portion went specifically to Black and brown communities. The new program gets more BIPOC contractors and communities involved than the traditional community solar program.

People who participate in the solar training program will be doing much of the installation of the community-driven community solar projects, including those GEJC proposed. The developments are now on track to become one of the biggest non-utility-based solar developments owned by a clean energy co-op, according to BIG.

This type of solar development has been seen in other parts of the country, like those developed in Minnesota by Cooperative Energy Futures, a developer providing guidance to GEJC. Adesope is looking forward to seeing it further implemented in Illinois.

"I've seen disenfranchised communities that are usually at the receiving end of various programs where you have the imposition of models," Adesope said. "But this model ... every member has equal decision-making ability."


Lydia Larsen wrote this article for Inside Climate News.


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The fall harvest is around the corner and Minnesota farmers hope their equipment holds up.

Advocates said a new state law, intended to level the playing field in the electronics repair market, has a glaring omission: agriculture.

Minnesota has joined a handful of states in implementing policies known as "Right to Repair" laws, which require manufacturers of certain products to make documentation, parts and tools available to independent repair shops and product owners. The moves follow complaints tech firms hold a monopoly in making repairs.

Gary Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, said they support the new changes, but wish they included farm machinery.

"It's really restricting the farmer's rights," Wertish contended. "It still gets back to when you buy a piece of equipment for that kind of money, you should have the right to be able to fix it yourself, or if not, take it to an independent dealership."

Tractors and other equipment are being fitted with new technology. Wertish pointed out if a farmer has to drive several hours to a dealership for an electronic fix, it cuts into their time in the field, potentially harming their bottom line. Companies like John Deere argued they share details through industry agreements called a "memorandum of understanding," but skeptics countered they do not provide enough access.

Wertish noted it would be great for farmers to do repairs themselves when they can. He added having more independent mechanics can bolster rural economies and thinks creating competition would not be a major disruption to large dealerships.

"If they're providing good service, which they are, they're still going to get a large percentage of the customers," Wertish argued. "They're still going to rely on them."

As big repair sites deal with staffing shortages, Wertish emphasized having more options could take some of the pressure off during busy farming seasons. He hopes Minnesota lawmakers take another look at the issue next session for potential changes. Congress also faces pressure to enact a similar law at the federal level.


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More than 70% of Coloradans believe drug companies, hospitals and insurance companies charge too much, according to a new Consumer Healthcare Experience State Survey.

Among respondents, 90% support policy solutions that include making the price of care transparent and ending the practice of surprise billing.

Priya Telang, communications manager for the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, said nearly three in four Coloradans are experiencing financial hardships due to the high cost of health care.

"Being uninsured due to high insurance costs, or delaying their care because they can't afford it, or they are afraid of how much it's going to cost," Telang outlined. "People are not able to afford their basic health care costs."

More than two in three Coloradans said they have delayed or gone without health care altogether due to cost. Nearly 40% who did get care have struggled to pay those bills, were forced to deplete their savings, maxed out credit cards, faced collection agencies or went without necessities such as food, heat and even housing.

Most respondents blame big industry stakeholders for unfair prices. With November elections on the horizon, Telang pointed out the survey should underscore voters are looking for candidates who can make affordable health care available to all Americans, even in the face of some of the nation's most powerful special interests.

"This is a bipartisan issue," Telang argued. "Republicans and Democrats alike are fed up with having to continue to deal with high prices when it comes to their medical care or prescription drug prices."

Nine in 10 Coloradans support key interventions to lower costs. They say hospitals, doctors and insurers should provide upfront cost estimates and out-of-pocket costs for lifesaving medicines such as insulin should be capped. They said prices for medicines should be standardized and affordable and want the attorney general to take legal action to stop price gouging.


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Criticism of a plan to restructure U.S. mail service is mounting.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's 10-year plan, called Delivering for America, was announced in 2021 but has kicked into high gear this year. Intended to make the U.S. Postal Service more efficient and cut spending, the plan has involved moving mail through larger processing centers rather than smaller, local ones.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said it has led to a slowdown in mail delivery.

"He has had a plan for getting rid of our regional sorting centers or downgrading them," Merkley explained. "Which means that the mail from Bend and Medford and Eugene -- basically all over the state -- has to go just to Portland and be sorted there and then returned."

DeJoy has paused his consolidation of centers through the end of the year, but said he will continue pursuing his Delivering for America plan. He was appointed to the position of postmaster general in 2020 during the Trump presidency by the Board of Governors of the Postal Service.

Merkley pointed out he has heard from constituents as delays in mail delivery increase. For instance, people are getting late fees for sending checks for bills or rent through the mail. He also noted medications are not making it to people in a timely manner.

"In some cases, they can't apply until they've run out of their medicine or nearly out, which means they have to apply at the last minute and by the time the slow mail operates, they have a space," Merkley observed. "They either miss their meds or they have to buy them locally at a much higher price."

Merkley added the Delivering for America plan is not realistic and should be reversed.

"Every other government service we provide we subsidize," Merkley stressed. "We don't expect it all to pay for itself 100%. Mail is so important to people, so important to our communities, so important to our small business, so important to our communication, so important to our sense of community that we should be sustaining it as a high-quality service."


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