Clean Footprint was founded in 2010 by John Porter, a former two-term Mayor of his hometown, Cape Canaveral, Florida. As a man who had devoted much of his life trying to improve conditions for the people around him, Porter recognized that the moment had finally arrived for wider, mainstream adoption of clean renewable energy. And from his work both as a Mayor and as a business owner, he knew this effort would only be successful through the employment of grassroots, boots-on-the-ground effort and advocacy.
Early in the game, Porter also saw that an underserved market for the solar business was small-town and rural distributed generation projects. While larger projects transmitted power away from their generation sites to big cities and industrial hubs, with D.G. the power stayed local, along with the tax revenues. Adding to the benefits of these projects was that they often allowed struggling landowners to hold onto their land, when farming or other endeavors were not creating enough sustainable and reliable income. It was, as Porter liked to say, a win-win for all involved. As a former public servant, it was exactly the kind of mission and business model he could feel good about.
Porter’s Chief Financial Officer, Bennett Boucher, shared this philosophy. A 15-year City Manager and longtime proponent of renewables in his position with Energy Florida, Boucher knew how to speak effectively to both local authorities and to the citizens whose lives and livelihoods his mandates impacted. It was often a tricky tightrope to walk, but his track record spoke to the success of his approach, and he brought that to his role with Clean Footprint as well.
Since its founding, Clean Footprint has originated over 500 Megawatts of solar projects, with most of them sized under 5 MW. It has accomplished this by going into the communities, speaking to City Councils and Commissions as well as the landowners and their neighbors to explain the benefits of solar farms, dispel the negative connotations and disinformation, and generate support and goodwill for their efforts.
As a result, Clean Footprint’s track record is far stronger than many of our peers. By vetting areas where we operate and committing to the necessary outreach upfront, we are often able to secure approvals and permitting that other developers can’t. We also keep our landowners fully apprised throughout the process, sending them quarterly updates and thank-you gifts like mugs and cookies at holiday time. And we deal honestly and transparently with our downstream vendors and partners, so that the enthusiasm and goodwill we generate keeps being paid forward.
While Clean Footprint’s focus up till now has been as an early-to-mid-stage developer, which limits our say or involvement in the downstream construction and operation of the projects we originate, there are many examples of our successful foundational efforts in this capacity.
In Hurt, Virginia, we have been ushering a number of d.g. projects forward to activation with our partner Pivot Energy. There, we have befriended the Mayor, Gary Hodnett, and not only co-sponsored grant applications with him, but we also donated money, food, and time to the fundraising efforts to purchase a new fire engine, and we have also been working with him and the city to bring rooftop solar power to their struggling shopping mall.
In Smythe County, Virginia, another area hit with mine closures and difficult topography, we secured the first-ever Special Use Permit for solar and have created a partnership by which the landowner can continue to this land for grazing – and again, we plan to use this agrivoltaic model as a springboard both to educate and build awareness around the possibilities for other multi-use sites.
In Putnam County, Ohio, Clean Footprint engaged with the local authorities to commission an environmental study of a former industrial site adjacent to one of our projects sites there, to assure that a once-detectable toxic plume had been fully dissipated and did not pose a threat to either the local populace or our proposed solar array.
Most recently, in Southern California for the Intersolar event in San Diego, Clean Footprint co-hosted (with Reneu Energy and the Solar Maverick podcast) a fundraiser for the LA Fire Fund, which raised several thousand dollars for the brave First Responders and those affected by the wildfires.
But these are just a few examples, and just a beginning for what we hope to do as a company. We believe with all our hearts in the need and benefits of clean energy, especially solar power, and we want to help spread this message and generate goodwill, health, and prosperity in the towns and counties where we operate. As we continue to grow and extend our reach, this could take many forms: we could volunteer and donate money toward civic improvements like parks and other public spaces. We could sponsor events that would bring locals together, which in turn would offer them the chance to learn more about all the many ways that clean energy projects can help both fiscally and environmentally. We could plant trees, or perhaps help clean up areas of blight or disrepair. We could also have solar panels installed on city or county-owned buildings. The key is, to make these efforts hands-on and tangibly beneficial for the locals. With both personal involvement and, yes, a bit of enthusiastic showmanship, these efforts will go unnoticed, and a great opportunity will be lost.
In the end, we want our company-wide belief in the cause to continue to blossom along with our work. This will hopefully demonstrate our sincerity, and our commitment to winning this fight for the future, one project at a time. By agreeing to work with us on this important journey, there is no limit to how much good and goodwill we can create.
