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Ep 47: Community Solar: A Coupon for Electricity Costs

by Dakota Malone | Mar 5, 2025

Dakota explains how community solar functions like a coupon for electricity, helping large energy users lower utility costs while supporting clean energy initiatives. Through state-level legislation, participants receive bill credits on their utility bills in exchange for enrolling in local solar projects—an arrangement that benefits utilities, developers, and end users alike. This program requires no upfront investment or on-site solar installation and can generate average savings of over $75,000 per year.

Introduction (0:00 – 0:13)

Dakota Malone, co-founder of Community Solar Authority, opens the episode by introducing the company’s mission: helping large users of electricity save money through Community Solar. With over $22 million in future electricity savings unlocked so far, the podcast is designed to make the company’s services easy to understand.

What Is Community Solar? (0:14 – 0:43)

Malone explains that Community Solar is a state-legislated program enabling large energy users to participate in local solar projects. In return for supporting a cleaner energy grid, participants receive bill credits that directly reduce their electricity costs. Community Solar is delivered turnkey by his team to streamline access and maximize operational savings.

A Win-Win Ecosystem (0:43 – 1:23)

The program benefits multiple stakeholders:

Utilities meet their renewable energy mandates.
Solar developers take advantage of clean energy incentives.
Large users access lower utility costs while demonstrating environmental leadership.
Small businesses and residents can also participate and benefit from similar savings.

Malone emphasizes that this model creates a sustainable, mutually beneficial energy ecosystem.

A Simple Analogy: Coupons for Electricity (1:24 – 1:53)

To simplify the concept, Malone likens Community Solar to a retail coupon program. Just like entering your phone number at checkout applies a store discount, enrolling in Community Solar means bill credits are automatically applied before you pay your utility bill. The process is seamless and savings are predictable.

How It Works in Practice (1:54 – 2:14)

Although Community Solar is not technically a rewards program, the analogy helps conceptualize the ease of use. In states like New York with utility-consolidated billing, all charges and credits are conveniently itemized on one statement. Clients can clearly track their “coupon” savings each month without additional paperwork or complexity.

Factors Influencing Savings (2:15 – 2:38)

Savings from Community Solar vary based on the size of the utility account and other subscription details. The utility company does the math, applying bill credits automatically so clients receive the maximum discount available under the program. This automation simplifies tracking and enhances transparency.

Conclusion & Call to Action (2:39 – 3:08)

Malone wraps up by noting that Community Solar is one of the easiest ways to tap into clean energy savings—requiring no upfront investment or on-site solar installation. With average annual savings exceeding $75,000 per client, the program offers immediate and tangible value. Interested organizations can book a free consultation at communitysolarauthority.com, and are encouraged to connect with Malone directly on LinkedIn.

This episode frames Community Solar as a practical, low-barrier strategy for improving sustainability and profitability—especially for large energy users aiming to reduce overhead and participate in the clean energy transition.

To listen to the full episode… go to Spotify to listen.

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Q: How does community solar act like a “coupon” for electricity costs?

A: Community Solar Authority describes community-solar subscriptions as an instant discount, typically 5–10%, applied directly to electricity bills, reducing expenses without equipment, maintenance, or capital investment.

Read the transcript

(0:00 – 0:13)
Hey guys, this is Dakota Malone. I co-founded Community Solar Authority. We’ve unlocked access to over $22 million in future electricity savings, and we made this podcast as a way to talk about our business in an easy to digest way.

(0:14 – 0:43)
Today, I’m talking about how Community Solar is exactly like a coupon for electricity costs and the simple way to think about lower utility costs. My name is Dakota, and for the last six years, we’ve helped large users of electricity access the program Turnkey as a way to improve operating profit. It’s a program through state-level legislation that allows you to participate in a local solar project, and in exchange for contributing to a cleaner energy grid, you receive bill credits to offset your utility costs.

(0:43 – 1:01)
This symbiotic relationship between developers who are building these solar farms and the offtakers who are enrolling into them allows for a few things to happen. One, the utility gets to meet their renewable energy commitments. Two, the developer gets to capitalize on available incentives for clean energy.

(1:01 – 1:23)
Three, large users of electricity get to easily access lower electricity costs while displaying environmental stewardship for participating in community solar. And lastly, small businesses and residential accounts can also participate and benefit too. The purpose of this podcast is to give you an easy analogy to consider how all of this works.

(1:24 – 1:36)
Here’s a simple way to imagine the bill credits. We’ve all been there before, but I want you to picture this. You’re checking out at a store, and it asks you for your member card or phone number to provide you with a discount on your purchase.

(1:37 – 1:53)
You enter your information so it can see your account, it applies whatever discount, and you save a little bit of money because you signed up for the rewards program. Now imagine that with your electricity bill, except the coupon is automatically applied every time before you pay it. That’s the power of community solar.

(1:54 – 2:14)
To be fair, community solar is not a rewards program, and the bill credits are not an actual coupon. It’s just an easy way to think about it. In New York, when dealing with utility consolidated billing, for example, it means that everything will show up directly on your utility account without any hassles, so you can see exactly how large of a coupon you had applied.

(2:15 – 2:38)
The amount of the bill credit will be determined by several factors, including the size of the utility account that gets signed up. Using the metaphor of a coupon, a client can enroll in the program to get these rewards applied automatically, and the utility does all of the math to help them keep track of their discounts. In conclusion, community solar is the lowest barrier to entry when it comes to benefiting from available commercial solar incentives.

(2:39 – 2:58)
Our average client saves over $75,000 a year with the program as a result of these bill credits. It costs them $0 to enroll, and they don’t need to install solar on site. Is your organization considering accessing a community solar project to lower electricity costs? You can book a complimentary call by visiting our website to get started today.

(2:58 – 3:08)
That’s communitysolarauthority.com. Thanks for tuning into this episode. Please connect with me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com slash in slash Dakota Malone, and I will catch you guys on the next episode.