On a smoky Saturday morning, approximately 100 people gathered on the steps of the Idaho State Capitol building to join in on the first “Solar For The People Rally” hosted by the Idaho Chapter Sierra Club on Aug. 17.
The rally advocated for affordable solar power for all Idahoans. Idaho Chapter Sierra Club Director Lisa Young criticized state utilities and leaders for “adding barriers” for low-income residents while praising the federal government for their financial efforts to support clean energy and accessible solar power through the Solar for All program.
“Our nation is moving forward, but Idaho utilities and regulators are trying to move us backwards,” Young said in her speech.
In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Idaho over $56 million to fund solar power for low-income households. According to Young, 17,000 Idahoans received $43 million in tax credits by installing solar upgrades on their homes.
However, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC) approved a proposal from Idaho Power that reduces reimbursement rates for solar owners and introduced a new service charge that increases in price from $5 to $10 in 2024 and $15 in 2025 for all residential customers.
“We’re asking utilities to make those changes, stop making the bad changes, make some good changes,” Young said in an interview with The Arbiter. “[We’re] asking local leaders in city government to embrace these new federal funds that are coming in right now.”
The rally also included 13 other speakers from various environmental and social organizations as well as individual solar owners.
Jeremy Brunson, an urban solar power owner from Meridian, expressed his frustration with Idaho Power after receiving his first bill after installing his solar panels following the changes in cost.
“They’re [Idaho Power] doing whatever they can to squeeze whatever they can get for their profits,” Brunson said. “Honestly, we should all be on the same page, It shouldn’t be us versus them.”
During a brief intermission between speakers, Young led the crowd in chants: “people power, solar power,” and “climate justice is what we need, no billionaires and corporate greed.”
Supporters of the rally performed a political skit lasting around four and half minutes. In the skit, an environmentalist in a white dress and gold crown, depicting the sun, was surrounded by a group of people holding up solar panel signs. Three activists in suits, representing the governor, legislature and public utilities commission, led by Brunson wearing a Darth Vader mask in all black clothing, representing the “lord utility monopoly”. They walked down the Idaho Capitol steps, removing the solar panels away from the sun. The skit concluded with the solar-powered allies defeating the “monopoly utility men”, eliciting cheers from the crowd.
Shari Baber, founder of the organization Brown Like Me and President of Boise Parks and Recreation Commission, closed out the rally by emphasizing the importance of making solar power affordable for low-income Idaho citizens.
“I’ve had parents come to me and say ‘I had to choose between buying groceries and paying my electricity bill,’” Baber said in her speech.
Baber, a candidate running for House of Representatives, District 15, aspires for Idaho to be a more inclusive community.
“I want black and brown kids to know that they don’t have to leave Idaho to find a community that supports them,” Baber said in an interview with The Arbiter. “I have children and all my children, when they turned 18, got out of [Idaho]. I’m a black mom that tried to tap them into [this community] but they still didn’t feel like this community represented them.”
Another speaker, Anise Welty, a 16-year-old junior at Borah High School and a member of the Idaho Climate Justice League, strives to spread awareness about climate change and believes that the protection of wildlife should be one of Idaho’s main priorities.
“I’m hoping that Idaho can work together to be an energy clean state,” Welty said. “I hope that Idaho can become a leader in protecting our wild places outdoors that are being harmed so extremely by climate change. I believe that Idaho should be on the forefront of protecting our wildplaces as we are such a nature oriented state.”
Welty says that the youth-led league is working on meeting with the city to develop community solar projects in Boise.
Young praised the Idaho Climate Justice League for their efforts over the last few years through public protests and writing letters to the Idaho Power and the City of Boise advocating for clean energy.
