Charlestown's contractor of choice for successful 2017 Solarize Charlestown program
By Eric Halverson / ecoRI News contributor
The staff credit this success to the company’s business
model, in which each employee is an equal owner of the company. Now, Sol Power
and a group of fellow cooperative businesses are trying to pave the way for
workers to democratically run their own workplaces across the state.
When Eric Beecher founded Sol Power, he always knew
he wanted it to be democratically run.
“It just seemed to me like the best way to run a company,
kind of the fairest and most sustainable way to do it,” said Beecher, who notes
the company is technically an LLC because it was established before the state
allowed businesses to register as workers’ cooperatives. “It’s really a
long-term sustainable career path that can give people a living wage and really
values its workers.”
At Sol Power, each employee owner gets to vote on company
policies. They divide annual profits based on how much each of them worked in a
given year. With 12 owners on staff, Sol Power installs about 150 residential
systems a year. Whether they’re on a steep roof in the hot summer or freezing
winter, the workers know they will all share in the rewards.
EDITOR'S NOTE: It'd be great if Charlestown and Sol Power could repeat the Solarize Charlestown deal before the federal tax credits are terminated at year's end. I was one of those who took advantage of the group discount deal in 2017. In the 8 years since, those solar panels have paid for themselves through reductions in energy use and monthly checks for the sale of excess energy. - Will Collette
“Once you’ve been with us for a year, you can become an equal owner in the business. And that just really gets people working hard,” said Beecher, who said there is one company employee currently working through that first-year trial period. “We install like twice as fast as other companies because it’s people’s own business and they care about it.”
The biggest obstacles for Sol Power right now are the cuts
to federal incentives for residential solar by Trump and the Republican party
that go into effect at the end of 2025. Beecher warned that the eliminated 30%
residential solar tax credit is “an industry killer.”
Sol Power’s success as a cooperative is being held up as an
example by the movement to build more democratic businesses in Rhode Island.
A new piece of legislation during the last General Assembly
session was championed by co-op advocates hopes to bring these types of
opportunities into local businesses in Rhode Island.
The Opportunity
for Employee Ownership Act was introduced in the House by Rep.
Jennifer Stewart, D-Pawtucket. A similar piece of legislation was introduced to
the Senate by Sen. Frank Ciccone, D-Providence, Johnston. The bills would give
employees of existing small businesses the opportunity to purchase their
workplace when that business goes up for sale.
According to a report by the Exit Planning Institute,
between 70% and 80% percent of small businesses never sell. And in Rhode
Island, Project Equity data shows more than half of the companies in the state
are owned by people over 55 years old. The legislation, which was held for
further study, would help local business owners sell their property for a fair
price to the very employees already playing important roles in company
operations.
“There are a lot of small businesses that we all love… but
the problem is that a lot of them are owned by people who are on the brink of
retirement,” said Chloe Chassaing of the Rhode Island Worker Cooperative
Alliance. “This could help to have a built-in group of people who are just
naturally very invested in preserving not only their own jobs, but the
businesses for the community, the tax base and everything else.”
Chassaing, who is a worker-owner with White Electric Coffee,
said Sol Power has been a great example and resource for other co-ops just
starting out.
As communities search for ecologically responsible sources
of energy and economic security, Chassaing said cooperatives are a powerful way
to empower workers in environmental fields.
“A big part of that is making sure that those jobs are good
jobs, whether it’s through having them be unionized or through work
cooperatives or both,” said Chassaing. “So it’s really great to see that Sol
Power is providing these good jobs through a worker cooperative, and they’re
also doing really well.”
Whether a company wants to be more environmentally friendly
or more democratic, Beecher said both are worthy goals.
“I think every company can be concentrating on being more
sustainable and being more environmentally friendly and being more democratic,
and also, being more fair in terms of balancing out earnings for their
employees,” said Beecher, who calls residential solar “the cleanest energy we
have for the grid.”
