The push to move away from fossil fuels will create jobs and invigorate the economy, Scott said Monday to a crowd of around 50 people at the Hunger Mountain cooperative store in Montpelier.
“We want to attract young professionals, like yourselves, and working families to Vermont,” Scott said. “Companies like SunCommon that are creating jobs and innovating here in Vermont are exactly what we need.” That echoed a theme from his campaign.
Waterbury-based solar firm SunCommon hosted the event to show off what the company calls a Solar Canopy, which consists of a timber-frame structure topped with enough solar panels to power a home.
SunCommon unveiled two solar canopies in the parking lot at Hunger Mountain. The structures currently send power to the store but will soon power charging stations for electric vehicles, company representatives said Monday.
The solar canopies serve a growing demand from Vermonters who want to purchase solar panels for their homes, but whose roofs can’t bear the weight of the panels, said SunCommon co-founder James Moore.
“Vermonters ship hundreds of millions of dollars every year outside the local economy, for dirty energy they don’t want to support,” Moore said.
Vermonters and other Americans will continue to demand renewable energy even if financial support from the federal government dries up, Moore said.
“This is happening because people want it to happen,” he said. “It’s not happening because of the government. People want to really lessen (their reliance on) fossil fuels that are hurting the economy and our environment.”
SunCommon offers solar canopies to customers at no upfront cost, using financing obtained through Vermont credit unions, said company spokeswoman Emily McManamy. The structures carry a value of around $30,000 apiece, McManamy said.
She said their timber frame construction was intended to hew to Vermont’s aesthetic sensibilities. The canopy is meant to offer protection from the elements when installed over driveways, patios, firewood stacks or even chicken coops, she said.
The state has committed to reducing carbon dioxide pollution emitted within its borders in coming decades.
Vermont established a goal last year of meeting 90 percent of its power needs from renewable sources by 2050 — a significant expansion over the statutory mandate that the state obtain at least 25 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025.
Scott on Monday reiterated his commitment to that goal, established in the state’s 2016 comprehensive energy plan under his predecessor, Gov. Peter Shumlin.
