Vote Solar

Vote Solar partners with environmentalist activists and solar-energy industry associations including GRID Alternatives, Energy Foundation, 11th Hour Project, ³ The Utility Reform Network, the Natural Resources Defense Council, ⁴ the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the Ecology Center, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. ⁵

Background

Vote Solar is a solar-energy advocacy organization that uses public engagement and coalition building to promote pro-solar-energy state-level regulatory and legislative agendas, ¹ with a particular focus on “solar for all.” ² It was established in 2002 and works with 25 states to advocate for “a just 100% clean energy future.” ⁶

Vote Solar claims that “pollution from fossil fuels has a disproportionate impact on communities of color, low-wealth communities, and other historically marginalized groups.” ⁷

Programs and State Level Initiatives

Vote Solar’s proposals for 2024 includes weather-dependent energy initiatives that incorporate “equitable access” and advance solar energy policies on a state-by-state basis. ⁸

Its Access and Equity program is focused on developing low-income solar-access programs. It created an Access and Equity Advisory Committee made up of Black and Indigenous people that meet to discuss current “inequity fueled by discriminatory practices.” ⁹

Vote Solar partnered with GRID Alternatives and the Center for Social Inclusion to develop a Low-Income Solar Policy Guide. It was funded by environmental groups Energy Foundation and 11th Hour Project. ³ It partners with environmental activists and marginalized communities to push for policies that support “the equitable distribution of community wealth, and do not continue to contribute to inequitable social power structures.” ¹⁰

In California, Vote Solar formed a coalition with solar-energy industry groups, environmentalist activist groups, and utility ratepayer advocates including The Utility Reform Network, Natural Resources Defense Council, and California Environmental Justice Alliance to fight for a Net Value Billing Tariff (NVBT) that they believe would support “an equitable community solar program.” Vote Solar’s executive director believes that this program would create improved policies that would enable California to obtain grants from the $7 billion Solar For All fund created by the Biden administration. ⁴

In Michigan, Vote Solar partnered with the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the Ecology Center, and the Union of Concerned Scientists to form an alliance to propose recommendations to the Michigan Public Service Commission that would promote “grid equity.” ⁵

In Arizona, Vote Solar petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to compel the Salt River Project, a residential rooftop solar program in Tempe, Arizona, to change its rates due to what it claims to be discriminatory practices. ¹¹

In March 2024, Vote Solar and GRID Alternatives wrote a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and the California Assembly leadership encouraging them to develop solar-energy promotion policies that will meet the requirements of the Solar For All federal grants. ¹²

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

On its “Energy Justice & Democracy” page, Vote Solar featured a guidebook that it said could help activists “phase out toxic energy like coal, nuclear, and oil facilities and bring in clean energy like wind and solar.” In a 2017 news release Vote Solar encouraged Illinois lawmakers to “plan carefully for a future when costly aging nuclear plants will be retired.” Another 2017 release advocated using solar power to replace “America’s outdated centralized, fossil- and nuclear-powered approach to energy.” ^{13 14 15}

Funding

In 2022, Vote Solar reported revenues of $7,417,991 and expenses of $8,701,220. ¹⁶

According to tax filings, officers and key employees at Vote Solar are highly compensated. In 2022, compensation for officers and employees was over $5.9 million, almost 68% of the organization’s total expenses. ¹⁶

2022 and 2023 donors include left-of-center philanthropy Sandler Foundation; environmental advocacy groups Climate Imperative Foundation, Energy Action Fund, and Energy Foundation; Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties; Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston; and several large donor-advised funds including Foundation for the Carolinas, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Jewish Communal Fund, Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, Schwab Charitable Fund, and Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. ¹⁷

Leadership

Sachu Constantine is executive director. Constantine obtained a masters of public policy from University of California, Berkeley. For eight years he was a board member of Population Connection. He worked for solar panel manufacturer SunPower Corporation and became a director of policy for the Center for Sustainable Energy before moving to Vote Solar in 2017, starting as a regulatory managing director. He became executive director in 2022. ¹⁸ He’s Vote Solar’s second executive director. Co-founder Adam Browning was executive director for its first 20 years. ¹⁹

Zaid Ashai is board chair of Vote Solar. He is chairman and CEO of solar-energy industry company Nexamp. ²⁰

Vote Solar board member Tarak Shah is a former chief of staff for the Biden administration Department of Energy. He also held several positions working for former President Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign and transition and later in the Obama administration. ²¹