Tag Archives: Washington D.C.

Q&A: New Columbia Solar CEO Mike Healy On DC’s Historic Clean Energy Vote

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

After the DC City Council passed its groundbreaking clean energy resolution on Tuesday, reaction came in fast and furious. One of those people who reacted was New Columbia CEO Mike Healy, whose company works strictly within the district and is heavily invested in solar development in the city. We thought he’d be the perfect person to weigh in on the resolution, which now goes to Mayor Muriel Bowser for her signature and then on to Congress and the President for approval. Here’s what he had to say on the historic passage.

SolarWakeup: What is the specific impact of Tuesday’s vote?

New Columbia Solar’s CEO Mike Healy: The District is going to be 100% powered by clean energy by 2032, with 10% of that power coming from solar energy .

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SolarWakeup: How did the DC Council get here?

Mike Healy: The Council and the city leadership have shown strong and consistent environmental and clean energy leadership over the past 15 years. The passage of the Clean Energy DC Act is an important step in a long history of developing a robust clean energy industry in the District.

SolarWakeup: What makes the DC vote so groundbreaking?

Mike Healy: It is the strongest, most aggressive renewable clean energy target in the country. As the nation’s capital, we are setting a precedent by ensuring it’s going to be powered by clean energy.

The District is leading in utilizing renewable energy as a mechanism to help preserve affordable housing and assist low income residents in the District.

SolarWakeup: Do you foresee any opposition in Congress or by the President?

Mike Healy: No.

SolarWakeup: What effect will this have on New Columbia Solar’s business?

Mike Healy: We are a local company focused on the District, that means hiring District residents and working with local partners. The passage of The Clean Energy DC Act creates an opportunity that allows our company to stay focused on the District and not have to go anywhere else. We can focus our efforts fully on the community that we love.

SolarWakeup: How do you think DC’s vote will affect similar efforts around the country, if at all?

Mike Healy: As the Nation’s capital – this should set the stage for both states and cities. We are setting an example by how we power our city and showing how local clean energy can benefit our city’s most vulnerable residents.

Washington D.C. Could Move To 100% Clean Energy By 2032

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Washington D.C. is a city full of symbols. Monuments to leaders of the past abound, and as the seat of our national government it carries great symbolic power for the rest of the country.

Which is why the fact that it’s considering a resolution to move to a 100% renewable energy future as soon as 2032 could provide tangible gravity to the cause and encourage other cities to follow its lead, according to various local and national reports.

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Tony Clifford, chief development officer for Standard Solar, a D.C.-area national solar company, is thrilled that Washington D.C. is continuing its commitment to clean energy. After all, the company has installed more solar in the District than anyone else and helped the city earn the world’s first LEED Platinum certification for a municipality.

“For us, it’s more than just another city going to 100% clean energy – it’s personal for us,” Clifford said. “Standard Solar has a number of employees who reside in the District of Columbia, and we have always taken great pride in helping the city be a clean-energy leader.

“As longtime participants in the DC solar market, I can only applaud the DC City Council and Mayor Bowser for their continued renewable energy leadership,” he added “Setting and attaining a goal of 100% renewables by 2032 will keep DC in the forefront of clean energy cities around the world.”

That D.C. would join an ever-growing list of cities to pledge a move to 100% clean energy is an enormous symbolic victory for the cause, given its special place in the hearts of many Americans. But as Utility Dive correctly points out, the decision is becoming more common, even at a statewide level. As they wrote:

Among aggressive carbon reduction goals, a 100% RPS may soon become common. While Hawaii was first to declare a 100% renewables goal, several states have considered it, including California, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Washington and Pennsylvania.

The importance of having a nation’s capital be 100% clean energy can’t be underestimated, so we join Clifford in his congratulations to the council and Mayor for their leadership on this issue. Now it’s time to get the resolution passed and move forward with putting in into practice.