Co-op's energy conservation goals don't change with a new name

The La Conner-based Skagit Valley Clean Energy Cooperative has changed its name to Skagit Valley Clean Energy Alliance. Its business structure has also changed. Rather than being a membership-based, non-profit cooperative like REI or Orcas Power, the SVCEA is now a non-profit 501(c)3 charitable organization.

The goal of the alliance remains the same as the goal of the cooperative: Accelerate the use of renewable energy, energy conservation and related energy management technologies throughout Skagit County.

Founder and president Terry Nelson's vision was (and remains) that the organization will facilitate increased development and use of advanced energy technologies in Skagit County. An early cooperative concept, for instance, was to create a system via which members could install, and share the output of, renewable energy generation systems.

Although similar "microgrids" are being installed elsewhere, that concept has technical, regulatory and economic hurdles that make it difficult in Western Washington. So, as other people joined, the SVCEC started to look for additional renewable energy and energy conservation opportunities.

It quickly became apparent that there were many relevant technologies that could be used immediately given the conditions in local energy markets, and that pursuing some of them could have much faster results. So, the organization expanded its activities. It has achieved significant successes to date, as described in previous columns.

The Solarize campaign, which SVCEC sponsored in 2023 and 2024, is a typical cooperative-type project. SVCEC used its organizational and marketing abilities to negotiate favorable terms for people who want to install solar panels on their homes. This is similar to what co-ops like REI and the Skagit Valley Food Co-op do. However, SVCEC and its Solarize partner, Olympia Community Solar, have been able to get the bulk purchasing benefits of Solarize for Skagitonians without requiring that people actually become members of the cooperative.

Providing assistance in finding and pursuing grants to local governments and businesses for advanced energy systems has also not required that participants actually join the cooperative. SVCEC members were able to work directly with, for instance, the La Conner School District, to write and submit successful grant applications, e.g., for the solar-and-battery system on which the district is currently working. The organization is also working on a solar-and-battery system to improve resilience and lower energy costs for the Town of La Conner's Fire Department, and on electrifying La Conner's school buses.

So, over the last two years, it has become obvious that it's easier to explain what the organization is doing, and to build alliances and pursue grants, by simply being a non-profit trying to accelerate the energy transition here in Skagit County.

Asking people to join a membership-based cooperative has been confusing. Switching to a 501(c)3 status is easier to explain; enables interested parties to make a single contribution or to volunteer without feeling as though they're making an indefinite ongoing commitment to the organization; and enables SVCEA to more easily pursue a wide variety of federal and state grants that are available for advanced energy technology development and deployment.

Therefore, after considerable discussion, the board decided to change the Co-op to the Alliance, moving from a nonprofit cooperative, to the more familiar structure of a nonprofit charitable organization that can accept donations and grants. This change is almost complete. A new website is under construction.