Enrollment ongoing for new Minneapolis community solar garden

“I think it’s a really important statement,” North High School alumnus, EJ Easley says about the program.

Easley is a local organizer and a third-generation North Minneapolis resident. He and his family signed up for the North High School Community Solar Garden last summer. He’s since started promoting the program in the community, talking to neighbors about the personal and broader benefits of local access to clean energy. 

The solar array was developed and installed by minority business enterprises, Renewable Energy Partners, a solar developer based in North Minneapolis that trains and certifies local residents for jobs in the clean energy sector, and Go Solar Construction, a Black-owned business.

“It’s a tie to the new energy revolution and democratizing clean energy,” says Kyle Samejima, the executive director of Minneapolis Climate Action. 

Samejima’s organization has been engaged in the garden for six years. Working in collaboration with North High School and Renewable Energy Partners, the project focuses on clean energy as a powerful tool in addressing climate change, the environmental justice crisis, and building healthy, sustainable communities in the midst of the climate emergency.

For residents like Easley, the garden sheds light on what’s next for a community on the rise. “It’s a step toward gaining more control over our own lives and not being completely subservient to a company. It’s a great opportunity for people within the community to potentially save a couple dollars, but also to be a part of something bigger, too.”