When Lucille Oaks decided to move from her home of 65 years into a nearby independent living community, she wanted to do something meaningful for her community of St. Johnsbury, her grandchildren and the climate. At a spritely 94 years old, Lucille had been considering her options for some time. Eventually she decided to lease a portion of her land to a farmer for haying, and the rest to Norwich Solar to host a solar array. We were so pleased to have had the opportunity to work with Lucille to see her achieve her goal.
“Solar projects like this benefit the environment, and make the future better for my 5 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren,” she said. “It also sets a good example for the children to learn to be caretakers of the planet,” said Lucille during a virtual interview with her and her daughter Cynthia in August 2022.
Aside from the 680+ metric tons of CO2 that the array offsets annually by adding clean energy into the grid, it also benefits the net metering customers who are receiving the credits – a local farm and an affordable housing complex in St Johnsbury – with an estimated annual savings of $10,000 on their electricity bills.
Norwich Solar was with Lucille every step of the way guiding the process. Lucille’s local advocacy and active participation in the regulatory review were critical to the Project’s success. And as seen below, even on the job site, Lucille and Norwich Solar crews enjoyed working together! Congratulations Lucille!!
Lucille commented that our Chief Development Officer Martha Staskus “was a real cheerleader, tenacious and supportive throughout the process.”
She went on to share that she is proud that one of her grandsons studied solar energy and another has installed residential solar on his property. “We’re a bit of a solar family now,” she added.
We welcome Lucille and her family into our solar family!
