BlueHub Energy: Low-income communities can lead the way toward a greener future
We understand that the effects of climate change don’t come and go with the seasons. BlueHub Energy has long focused on climate change and environmental justice, working to mitigate the negative effects for low-income communities, while also ensuring that everyone, despite where they live or their level of wealth, can access renewable energy sources.
BlueHub Energy develops innovative financing and business models that expand access to solar and other renewable sources for people with low incomes.
“To address the impacts of climate change, people of all incomes need to be part of the solution.”
DeWitt Jones
President, BlueHub Energy
Our Work
Electric Vehicle Pilot
As cities and states take steps towards a cleaner and greener future, we must place equity at the center. Too often, the communities that stand to benefit most from environmentally conscious policies are left out. Our first-in-the-nation pilot program with Fermata Energy, Enterprise Holdings and Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation (CSNDC) will bring low-income communities into the electric vehicle (EV) transition.
Gail Latimore, Executive Director of CSNDC, holds up the keys to the Nissan LEAF EV while State Rep. Chris Worrell and State Senator Nick Collins applaud. Credit: Marilyn Humphries Photography
The pilot pairs vehicle-to-grid (V2G) bidirectional charging with the Nissan LEAF EV to tap into the car’s battery as an alternative, clean energy source for CSNDC’s Girls Latin Apartments, an affordable housing complex in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
The V2G pilot enables a resident of the apartment building to utilize the vehicle on a month-by-month basis with a low-cost rental. The driver is able to use the car freely except during limited summer hours when it must be plugged in to the charger to support peak power demands, like on hot afternoons when building cooling systems are running. The pilot earns roughly $3,000 per year from local utility company Eversource through its Connected Solutions Demand Response program.
The transition to electric vehicles has largely bypassed low-income communities thus far, many of which are more likely to experience the negative effects of climate change. By lowering the costs of an EV for a driver and eliminating the costs for affordable housing developments to host charging infrastructure, the pilot aims to increase the use of electric vehicles in environmental justice communities.
EV Pilot partners pose in front of the Nissan LEAF EV while it's plugged in to the V2G charger. (Photographed Left to Right: John Wheeler of Fermata Energy, Gail Lattimore of CSNDC, DeWitt Jones of BlueHub, Melissa Chan of Fermata Energy, Tim Turkowski of Enterprise Holdings, Thomas Walling of Enterprise Holdings) Credit: Marilyn Humphries Photography
Solar Projects
We’ve seen the transformative power of clean, affordable energy since our first pioneering solar installation for Boston-area affordable housing developments launched in 2007. We’ve brought solar’s environmental and financial benefits to dozens more communities since. The highlights of our progress to date:
Mishawum Park Apartments in Boston Photo by Marilyn Humphries
Our roof-top solar installations stabilize and lower electricity costs by 30% for 28 affordable housing developments, nonprofits and municipal facilities
Our two shared solar projects cut electricity costs by over 20% and fix costs over the life of the panels for 29 affordable housing developments and nonprofit facilities
A pilot solar program provides direct solar credits to residents of two affordable housing buildings, cutting electric bills by an average of 50% and eliminating price spikes for 10 years
Beyond reducing electricity costs, through our hands-on solar work we have a clear-eyed view of policy and financing barriers that have limited the use of solar power for low-income communities. We have the practical experience to propose effective policies to overcome those barriers. For example, as a direct result of our recommendations to reform solar incentives, Massachusetts solar policy now encourages conventional solar developers to serve public housing organizations. Today, solar electricity offsets more than half the electricity costs for the Massachusetts’ state public housing developments, saving 25% on electric bills, providing a hedge against future increases and generating roughly $250 million in savings over the life of the panels.
BlueHub Energy Solar Projects and Community Solar Customers
The map below shows the locations of BlueHub's clean energy projects and customers. BlueHub Energy solar panels generate over 8 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually—enough to power the electricity use of almost 1,100 houses. The greenhouse gas emissions avoided through the use of our solar panels is equal to the amount created by over 1,270 cars driven for one year, or a total of nearly 15 million miles. Read more about each project below.
All Current and Historic Solar Projects
225 Centre Street
Address: 225 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Size (kW): 62
Panels: 260
Year installed: 2014
Housing units served: 103
Adams Court
Address: 415–431 & 435 River Street, Mattapan, MA 02128
Size (kW): 84
Panels: 330
Year installed: 2010
Housing units served: 99
Cass House
Address: 140 Humboldt Avenue, Roxbury, MA 02121
Size (kW): 68
Panels: 231
Year installed: 2014
Housing units served: 256
Beneficiaries:
Blue Mountain Apartments, Dorchester
Greater Boston Food Bank
Address: 70 South Bay Avenue, Boston, MA 02118
Size (kW): 260
Panels: 1154
Year installed: 2011 & 2014
Mishawum Park Apartments
Address: 338 Main Street, Charlestown, MA 02129
Size (kW): 391
Panels: 2236
Year installed: 2009
Housing units served: 337
Old Colony Homes
Address: 25 James O’Neill Street & 125 Mercer Street, South Boston, MA 02127
Size (kW): 231
Panels: 934
Year installed: 2011 & 2014
Housing units served: 24
Jefferson Park Apartments *Sold to the Cambridge Housing Authority in 2023
Address: 93–108 Jackson Place, Cambridge, MA 02140
Size (kW): 90
Panels: 359
Year installed: 2014
Housing units served: 175
LBJ Apartments *Sold to the Cambridge Housing Authority in 2023
Address: 150 Erie Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
Size (kW): 81
Panels: 378
Year installed: 2011
Housing units served: 178
Lincoln Way Apartments *Sold to the Cambridge Housing Authority in 2023
Address: 181 Walden Street, Cambridge, MA 02140
Size (kW): 115
Panels: 442
Year installed: 2014
Housing units served: 70
Port Landing Apartments
Address: 131 Harvard Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
Size (kW): 44
Panels: 138
Year installed: 2016
Housing units served: 20
Walden Square Apartments
Address: 21 Walden Square Road, Cambridge, MA 02140
Size (kW): 80
Panels: 390
Year installed: 2009
Housing units served: 224
Washington Elms *Sold to the Cambridge Housing Authority in 2023
Address: 131 Washington Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
Boys and Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster, Leominster
GAAMHA, Gardner
Heywood Wakefield Commons Assisted Living Facility, Gardner
Olde English Village, Gardner
Hopkinton Fire Station *Sold to the Town of Hopkinton in 2021
Address: 73 Main Street, Hopkinton, MA 01748
Size (kW): 11
Panels: 60
Year installed: 2009
Hopkinton High School
Address 90 Hayden Rowe Street, Hopkinton, MA 01748
Size (kW): 193
Panels: 1105
Year installed: 2009
Hopkinton Middle School
Address: 88 Hayden Rowe Street, Hopkinton, MA 01748
Size (kW): 95
Panels: 544
Year installed: 2009
Hopkinton Police Station *Sold to the Town of Hopkinton in 2021
Address: 74 Main Street, Hopkinton, MA 01748
Size (kW): 25
Panels: 120
Year installed: 2009
Champ Homes *Sold to Champ Homes in 2021
Address: 82 School Street, Hyannis, MA 02601
Size (kW): 34
Panels: 169
Year installed: 2009
Housing units served: 34
Union Crossing
Address: 50 Island Avenue, Lawrence, MA 01840
Size (kW): 96
Panels: 390
Year installed: 2011
Housing units served: 150
North Canal Apartments
Address: 517 Moody Street, Lowell, MA 01854
Size (kW): 202
Panels: 872
Year installed: 2011
Housing units served: 265
New Bedford Boys & Girls Club
Address: 166 Jenney Street, New Bedford, MA 02740
Size (kW): 107
Panels: 330
Year installed: 2014
Onset Shared Solar Project (Onset East & West Developments)
Address: 15 Sand Pond Road, Onset, MA 02558
Size (kW): 2782
Panels: 9196
Year installed: 2016
Housing units served: 1003
Beneficiaries:
704 Main Street Apartments, Falmouth
Brandy Hill Apartments, East Wareham
Bridgeport Housing, Falmouth
Canal Bluffs Apartments, Bourne
Clay Pond Cove Apartments, Bourne
Coffin Lofts, New Bedford
Community Action for Better Housing, New Bedford
Cranberry Manor Apartments, Wareham
Cromwell Court Apartments, Hyannis
Depot Crossing, East Wareham
Edgerton Drive Housing, North Falmouth
Housing for Independent Living, Carver
Island Elderly Housing, Oak Bluffs
Island Housing Trust, Vineyard Haven
Kings Landing Apartments, Brewster
Lawton’s Corner Apartments, New Bedford
Manomet Place, New Bedford
Oscar Romero, New Bedford
Rock Harbor Village Apartments, Orleans
Schoolhouse Green Housing, Teaticket
Temple Landing Apartments, New Bedford
Terrapin Ridge Apartments, Sandwich, MA
The Lofts at Wamsutta, New Bedford
Wamsutta Apartments, New Bedford
Whalers Cove Assisted Living, New Bedford
Woods Hole Apartments, Woods Hole
St. Polycarp Village (2 & 3)
Address: 480 Mystic Avenue & 7 Memorial Road, Somerville, MA 02145
Size (kW): 22 & 72
Panels: 83 & 276
Year installed: 2016
Housing units served: 68
Beneficiaries:
Cross Street Apartments, Somerville
Quaboag Regional Middle High School
Address: 284 Old West Brookfield Road, Warren, MA 01083
Size (kW): 110
Panels: 525
Year installed: 2011
North Village Apartments *Sold to Winn in 2014
Address: 8 Village Way, Webster, MA 01570
Size (kW): 156
Panels: 763
Year installed: 2009
Housing units served: 132
Warren Elementary School
Address: 51 Schoolhouse Road, West Brookfield, MA 01585
Size (kW): 107
Panels: 525
Year installed: 2011
West Brookfield Elementary School
Address: 89 North Main Street, West Brookfield, MA 01585
Size (kW): 110
Panels: 510
Year installed: 2011
Influencing Policy
We believe that successful policy emerges from real-world practice and we are committed to use our experience to shape effective policies that serve low-income communities. For example, through our solar work, we recognized that solar incentive programs were focused on rooftop solar systems, primarily for homeowners who could take advantage of federal income tax incentives. This leaves out households who do not have a federal income tax liability and those, such as tenants, who cannot put solar on their own roofs; both groups are disproportionately low-income residents. In response, we created a pilot community solar project that eliminates complex tax and financing requirements and provides savings for low-income households who could not otherwise access solar power.
In 2021, we celebrated years of clean energy advocacy when Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed a landmark climate bill. The new law, which is based on our pilot, removes barriers to affordable solar energy for low-income households and invites people of all incomes to be part of the solution.
We advocate tirelessly for policies that both solve the energy problems facing low-income households and help spawn new green markets. Our community solar pilot and our advocacy work around the Massachusetts climate bill establishes a model that we are sharing with our CDFI peers and low-income solar advocates around the country and elements of our pilot have been included in pending federal climate legislation.
What drives us? Our steadfast belief that the communities we serve not only stand to benefit the most but have the potential to lead every community toward a more sustainable future.
Consulting
We build on our expertise in solar power to bring the benefits of sustainability to affordable housing and nonprofit facilities by:
Investing in green technologies like WegoWise utility tracking software for multi-tenant buildings
Exploring healthier and more cost-effective building materials
Developing pilots for emerging new energy markets
The goal is better buildings—cheaper to operate, easier to manage, healthier to live in and a source of pride for the people who live in and around them.
Our clean energy impact
27,299
Solar panels installed in Massachusetts
7
Megawatts of solar capacity across 58 affordable housing developments and community facilities
8.2M
Kilowatt hours of solar electricity per year, enough to power 1,093 homes
$12.6M
In savings to customers over the life of the solar panels
4,012
Tons of carbon dioxide emissions reduced annually, equal to taking 1,273 cars off the road
25%
Cut in the properties' carbon emissions from electricity
Meet our expert
DeWitt Jones
President, BlueHub Energy and BlueHub Managed Assets | Executive Vice President, BlueHub CapitalClean Energy | BlueHub Energy
This nonprofit used WegoWise, a former affiliate that was co-founded and capitalized by BlueHub, to track energy usage in clients’ homes and help them advance their mission of addressing the social determinants of health.
BlueHub’s Onset Shared Solar Program generates solar energy offsite, then sells the credits at a discount to nearby affordable housing developments and lets residents sign up to have a percentage of the credits applied to their electricity bills.