Community Renewable Energy

Community Energy for Landowners

If you own property that may be rich in renewable energy resources (solar, wind, biomass, or geothermal), this site offers practical information for considering involvement in a clean energy project. 

Opportunities for clean energy investment range from a single residential solar installation to a utility-scale wind farm.  With different scales, technologies, and ownership models, property owners may find renewable energy to be anything from a hedge against increased energy prices to a revenue-generator for leased land.   This website offers practical methods to pursue clean energy development, with a focus on Community Energy projects, those that involve more than one private entity and strive to retain the benefits of clean energy within the local community. 

While community energy projects can have vast benefits, there also remain many challenges to development.  To successfully implement community energy projects takes a variety of team members with different perspectives and capabilities including community members, developers, contractors, landowners and policy makers.  While outside professionals might be hired for many of the steps involved in project development and management, the landowner’s knowledge of options and processes is crucial to achieving a successful project. 

With information on various clean energy technologies, projects and programs of many scales, we don’t intend for this website to take any one project participant from start to finish.  However, we do believe that landowners, as well as other vested parties can learn about investments, considerations, relationships, knowledge, and strategies -in essence- what it takes to pursue community energy projects.  Topics of particular relevance to landowners include the various technologies and their resource assessment, permitting, financing, ownership models, and risks.

The website is organized by the major types of clean energy resources that are currently being developed in the Pacific Northwest.   Sections on each major type of resource (wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and efficiency) can be found by clicking on the tab at the top of the page.   In addition, separate sections for project management, a utility perspective, and additional resources delve even further into the many issues that make up clean energy investment and project implementation.