Put low-income folks in our green energy future

As Barbados continues its ambitious push towards 100 per cent renewable energy – now delayed to 2035 –  the government’s policies and programmes must extend the benefits of clean energy to the nation’s low-income households. The 40-year success story that is the solar water heater, which has made Barbados a global leader in solar thermal adoption, points the way to the potential for expanding renewable energy access across all income levels.

The reality is that low-income families often face significant barriers to adopting rooftop solar and other distributed renewable technologies. High upfront costs, lack of access to financing, and split incentives between renters and landlords have left many of our most vulnerable communities on the sidelines of the renewable energy transition.

An example from the US demonstrates the importance of targeted policies and funding to bring solar power to low-income homes. The Joe Biden administration’s $7 billion “Solar for All” programme aims to lower energy costs and pollution in poor communities by supporting solar installations. This is precisely the type of initiative Barbados should emulate as it works towards its renewable energy goals.

Options could include expanded tax credits, low-interest financing, and direct grants to help offset the upfront costs of solar photovoltaic panels for low-income homeowners. We can envisage partnerships with community and charity organisations facilitating outreach, education, and technical assistance to ensure equitable access. Another route would be to explore adjustments to net metering policies to ensure low-income solar adopters receive fair credit for the clean energy they contribute to the grid. It would be pointless and self-defeating for a poor family to receive credits that could barely repay a loan.

Grants for off-grid and grid-tie PV units targeting farmers, fisherfolk, vendors and artisans should also form part of a green energy support mix, not as a handout but a hand up – considering the outsized role of energy costs in agricultural and artisanal production.

Reducing high energy costs frees up critical household funds for other necessities like food, health care, and transport. Renewable energy as a poverty alleviation strategy may be the pathway to improving health outcomes and other social indicators, beyond the obvious environmental and economic benefits.

Equitable access to renewable energy is a matter of social justice. Prioritising vulnerable populations in the renewable energy transition is the right thing to do, by helping to correct longstanding imbalances.

No longer can renewable energy be viewed as a luxury reserved for the middle class and affluent. It must be recognized as a universal right and a critical tool for empowering fully one-quarter of our population.

This is how we can sustain our global leader status in renewable energy while also ensuring a more equitable and inclusive green future for all citizens. Low-income renewable energy adoption on the whole would unlock a host of social, economic, and environmental benefits. Surely this is what sustainable development is really all about.

Empowering those who can afford to make the switch – like putting the wealthy and middle classes behind the wheels of electric vehicles and hooking PV systems of the heights and terraces to the national grid is neither sustainable, developmental, or politically savvy.