It may not surprise you to hear that Stearns has considered installing solar panels several times over the years. We’ve had solar company representatives out to the farm, but they determined that we don’t have quite enough roof space to adequately cover our electric bill. This, plus the fact that Stearns leases the land and renews our land use agreement with Sudbury Valley Trustees every few years, makes it potentially risky to acquire a longer term financial loan to help pay for the panels. However, we’ve just learned of an opportunity through Eversource that could significantly help Stearns every year.
If you own a solar PV system, you can determine where your excess electricity credits end up. Since Stearns Farm is a non-profit organization, you can delineate your excess electricity credits to us (at no cost to you).
CSA members Clark Williams and his family have decided to generously donate 40% of their extra credits to Stearns. This is what he said about the process:
Your bookkeeper provided me with a copy of Stearns’s latest electric bill at my request. The solar contractor that installed the system at my house took care of filling out and filing the Schedule Z with Eversource for us. All I did was provide them with copies of our electric bills and specify 40%.
This user guide from Eversource gives you a step-by step-look at donating renewable credits. Below is a quick summary:
- Donors must submit a Schedule Z or net metering application to EVERSOURCE. An example of the form can be found here.
- Your donation: On the Schedule Z, indicate what percentage (1-100%) of future net metering credits will be transferred to Stearns Farm. When your solar system produces excess energy, it will be applied on our bill to show that your credits have been applied. NOTE: Unfortunately, lump sum donations of existing credits cannot be transferred to the Stearns account. Only future credits can be donated.
- Please contact us by email (orders@stearnsfarmcsa.org) to let us know that you plan to submit a Schedule Z to EVERSOURCE. We will provide you with Stearns’s account number and other information needed for the Schedule Z form.
- Share your donation with us: If you would like a tax receipt for your donations, please share with us the credit amounts that appear on your monthly electric bills. Sharing this information also confirms that your records match what we see on our statements and lets us acknowledge and confirm receipt of your gift.
This is new for us and we are learning as we go, but please email us if you have any questions. And thank you for considering this wonderful opportunity to support Stearns Farm.
