Lumen Energy collaborates with The Michaels Organization to unlock solar funding opportunities through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
October 22, 2024
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Lumen Energy, the clean energy marketplace for buildings, announced the launch of a new initiative with The Michaels Organization (Michaels), a national leader in residential real estate serving more than 200,000 residents, to complete the firm’s first-ever U.S. portfolio-wide solar and battery feasibility assessment.
The Lumen platform produced investment-grade financial models customized for more than 540 of Michaels’ communities, spanning 36 states and 119 utilities. The assessment identified hundreds of opportunities to deploy solar and battery systems with a positive economic return, thereby cutting costs and reducing carbon emissions. Michaels’ asset managers can now access a live platform where over 5,500 financial models constantly update with new data and editable assumptions. The initiative aligns with Michaels’ broader mission to foster communities that Lift Lives across a wide spectrum of affordable, military, student, attainable, and market rate housing types.
Michaels is undertaking the assessment at a time of sea change for decarbonization of the built environment. Michaels looks forward to taking advantage of forthcoming funding opportunities afforded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), the EPA’s landmark $27 billion investment to mobilize financing to address the climate crisis, ensure the United State’s economic competitiveness, and promote energy independence. As one of the nation’s leading providers of affordable housing, Michaels also anticipates leveraging opportunities under the $7 billion Solar for All program, which will enable over 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities to benefit from distributed solar energy.
Peter Light, Co-Founder and CEO at Lumen Energy, said: “Michaels is taking on the once-in-a-generation opportunity to significantly upgrade its portfolio with clean-technologies, and leveraging future funding through the GGRF. The Lumen team is proud to help advance their mission of creating communities that lift lives for students, military service members, and create more affordable living.”
Matt Sullivan, Chief Operating Officer at The Michaels Organization, added: “Delivering environmentally sustainable communities designed for long-term efficiency and energy cost savings is a key component of our mission. Our work with Lumen will significantly strengthen our efforts to integrate on-site renewable technologies like solar, batteries, and EV charging that are important components of high quality housing.”
Lumen Energy’s unique software platform solves many of the challenges that have hindered institutional adoption of on-site solar. Lumen’s technology integrates thousands of data points per building, including property, energy, technology, policy, and finance data, to automatically determine if solar is both feasible and economically accretive to the building. Lumen’s automated process allows companies to review cash flow models and rigorously evaluate financing options side-by-side. Should solar prove financially viable at a location, property owners can leverage Lumen’s marketplace to obtain actionable bids on every project, empowering asset management teams to seamlessly close on financing and execute installations anywhere that solar projects align with their asset or fund strategy.
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About Lumen Energy
Lumen Energy was founded to make it possible for millions of buildings to benefit from clean energy technologies that are both profitable and open society’s door to a sustainable future. The company empowers commercial building owners to generate new income from clean energy with confidence and ease across their entire portfolios.
About The Michaels Organization
Michaels is a national leader in residential real estate, offering full-service capabilities in development, property and asset management, construction, and investment. Serving more than 200,000 residents in more than 600 communities across 39 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Michaels is committed to crafting housing solutions that jumpstart education, civic engagement and neighborhood prosperity, and to creating Communities That Lift Lives.