Native solar companies are very focused on energy equity. “The term ‘equity’ gets used a lot in the cutting-edge conversations around climate solutions and usually means ‘fairness.’ What we are doing is trying to develop equity for native communities in the business sense, meaning ‘ownership’ of renewable energy assets,” says says Matt Renner, VP of Seneca Solar, owned by the Seneca tribe in New York.

“A tribally owned company like Seneca Solar flips the old, extractive model of traditional energy development to focus on equitable outcomes for Native people. Tribally owned solar development companies are working toward an equitable renewable energy transition, rather than one that re-creates the systems that have led to the current climate crisis and economic inequality,” says Renner.

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Indigenous innovation is reshaping the burgeoning clean energy industry and empowering native communities in the process. Seneca Solar, a climate consultancy and solar developer wholly owned by the Seneca Nation, is expanding its strategic partnership with Alternative Energy Development Group (AEDG), a developer of commercial and industrial clean energy projects, to advance renewable energy developed and controlled by Native communities.

The mission of Seneca Solar is to profitably and equitably deliver innovative climate solutions that heal the Earth. The expanded partnership with AEDG is dedicated to reversing the extractive model of energy development on Native lands so these communities can gain energy sovereignty through participation in the clean-energy economy.

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Seneca Solar is expanding its strategic partnership with Alternative Energy Development Group (AEDG) to develop more than 55 MW in solar energy projects with a total capital expenditure of $135 million.

A developer of commercial and industrial clean energy projects, AEDG was the first partner to join Seneca Solar’s Certified Partnership Program. Seneca Solar is the energy solutions division of Seneca Holdings LLC, which is wholly owned by the Seneca Nation.

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The climate crisis is one of the largest challenges facing humanity today. Intensifying storms in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific islands disappearing, and disruptions to the global food supply caused by droughts and floods are all reasons to sound the alarm. While the climate crisis is a global issue, its local impacts are equally important to consider….

“Companies that want credit for being environmentally and socially responsible must include justice in their analysis,” says Matt Renner, vice president at Seneca Solar. “I don’t expect them all to become employee-owned cooperatives overnight, but at a bare minimum, they should focus on investing in historically disadvantaged communities.”

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It almost sounds too good to be true — clean, renewable energy that stimulates economic activity in underserved communities across the United States. Add to that, the solar panels being constructed by CHERP Solar Works are some of the most technologically advanced on the market, and — wait for it — they will provide free solar energy to the lowest income households across U.S. communities.

So wait, what’s the catch?

No catch. This nonprofit organization wants to change the traditional relationship between energy providers and energy users. They want to put ownership back in the community’s hands. To do this, they’ve also enlisted the help of Seneca Solar, which has recently worked with Indigenous communities in the U.S. so that they can become owners of their own energy assets.

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