With support from Puget Sound Energy, Opportunity Council’s next big effort to ensure everyone has access to a secure and healthy home will support the health of both its residents and environment.
Laurel Forest, opening in April of 2024, will help meet two critical needs for the downtown Bellingham community: providing decent and affordable homes for older adults as well as affordable childcare that families and employers need to succeed. Thanks to a Green Power Solar Grant from Puget Sound Energy, Laurel Forest will also utilize solar power, to help reduce the building’s carbon footprint and reduce the impact on our community’s climate health.
This grant – funded by PSE’s Green Power and Solar Choice customers – brings local solar projects to PSE’s electric service area while providing support to grant recipients through lower utility bills for low-income or Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and the organizations that serve them.
As a recipient of the grant, Opportunity Council is aligned with PSE to solve several challenges at once: the installation of solar panels to support the expansion of cleaner energy and a healthier environment, lowering energy-related operating costs at the property, and making the push to a more inclusive clean energy future.
Additionally, the property will utilize climate-friendly heat pumps and air conditioning units ensuring that people most at risk from extreme heat and cold are protected during our winters and summers.
