FALMOUTH, Mass. – Citizens Energy Corporation, in partnership with the Falmouth Economic Development Corporation (EDIC), is urging income-eligible families in Falmouth to sign up for discounted green energy generated by their locally built ground-mounted solar array.

Citizens Energy is proud to work with community leaders like the Falmouth EDIC and the Falmouth Housing Authority to ensure that clean energy is accessible and affordable for all.

“We have an enormous responsibility to our community and to our planet to not only make green choices, but to make those choices available to our most vulnerable populations.” said former Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II, who founded Citizens Energy Corporation over 40 years ago to find innovative ways to help poor families meet their energy needs.

The two-megawatt solar installation on Thomas B. Landers Road in East Falmouth will generate electricity savings for 250 low-income ratepayers who subscribe to Citizens Energy’s innovative JOE-4-SUN program. Subscribers receive a 50% discount on clean, renewable energy and will save about $300 each year.

“The Falmouth EDIC is very happy to partner with Citizens Energy and offer this savings on electricity to 250 lower income households in Falmouth,” said Patti Haney, a member of the Falmouth EDIC Board of Directors. “These savings are coming directly from the solar array that the EDIC and Citizens worked very hard to construct at the Falmouth Landfill so it is gratifying that our project is able to deliver both clean energy and benefits to those families in Falmouth that can use some financial assistance.”

“Falmouth Housing Authority is promoting a smart start to 2021,” said Leslie Pearce, assistant Director at the Falmouth Housing Authority. “We are urging our tenants to try clean, affordable energy with JOE-4-SUN so they can save on electricity and go green this year.”

“I had previously looked into putting solar panels on my house,” said Sheila Piacentini, a 77-year-old Falmouth grandmother. “But it was not something that is affordable for me right now. JOE-4-SUN has made it possible for me to get access to solar power without putting anything on my roof.”

The eight-acre array is the second solar project developed by Citizens Energy in partnership with the Falmouth EDIC to turn a blighted waste management facility into a greenfield of the 21st century. Located adjacent to the first project on the same capped landfill, the Thomas B. Landers array is one of six solar farms, owned and operated by Citizens Energy, that comprise the JOE-4-SUN program in Massachusetts.

Together, the six arrays generate 18 megawatts of steeply discounted energy earmarked to benefit the low-income ratepayers in both Eversource and National Grid service territories. Made possible by the state’s SMART (Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target) initiative, JOE-4-SUN is the largest low-income solar program in Massachusetts.

Each year, about 2,000 families who previously could not afford costly green power technologies will join the renewable energy revolution thanks to JOE-4-SUN. Over the course of its 20-year lifetime, the groundbreaking program will save Bay-State families upwards of $10 million.

In addition to the Massachusetts arrays, Citizens Energy recently unveiled the largest low-income community solar installation in the country, located in Imperial Valley, California. The 30-megawatt project, consisting of 107,000 panels, produces energy savings for 12,000 low-income households, making the Boston-based non-profit the national leader in mission-based renewable energy development.

Citizens Energy currently owns and operates over 45 solar projects, built and under construction, from Massachusetts to California that provide energy savings to low-income families, non-profits, fire departments, and homeless shelters.

In order to be eligible for JOE-4-SUN, renters or homeowners must be R-2 or R-4 discount customers in the National Grid or Eversource service territories. They will continue to receive their R-2 discount on top of the savings from JOE-4-SUN. Citizens Energy will enroll Falmouth households in the JOE-4-SUN program for at least 24 months.

Households interested in subscribing to JOE-4-SUN may apply online by visiting the Citizens Energy website at www.citizensenergy.com/joe4sun-falmouth, or by calling 855-JOE-4-SUN (855-563-4786) to request a paper application. Applicants can also send an email to JOE4SUN@citizensenergy.com for further information.