Usually, when you form a limited liability corporation, the intent is to turn a profit. But when Doug and Christine Weber of Westlake formed Kingdom Solar LLC, the intent was to create a vehicle for giving back to the community.
“We have been supporters of a number of different nonprofits in the community that help people in many different ways,” says Christine, who is now retired from the legal department at FirstEnergy and previously served on the board of Building Hope in the City for six years. “We knew that when we retired, we wanted to give back to the community in a more specific way. It was Doug’s idea to come up with solar panels. Coming from the energy industry, it was a good fit.”
Doug also worked in FirstEnergy’s legal department as an environmental attorney. That’s where Doug and Christine met before they got married some 13 years ago. “I was more of a corporate attorney working on regulator issues with PUCO, as well as financial offerings like bonds and notes,” says Christine.
Kingdom Solar helps nonprofits, churches and other community-based organizations install solar arrays to assist in alleviating the pressure of high utility bills. It recently completed its first project, paying $100,000 to install a solar array at Elizabeth Baptist Church, an inner-city church and mission whose work goes well beyond Sunday services.
“I have known the pastor, Richard Gibson, for at least a decade,” says Doug. “When it purchased the Old St. Hyacinth campus from the Catholic Diocese in 2012, I was out there with a weed wacker helping to clean the place up.”
Pastor Gibson had ambitious plans for the campus, even though two of its six buildings were condemned. Gibson turned the rectory into a bookstore and room for after-school activities. A former convent on the property became The Haven Home, a shelter for homeless women and children with a gymnasium used as an overflow area.
However, need in the community outstripped the facilities, and The Haven Home soon got overcrowded, causing utility bills to shoot through the roof at the cost of about $5,000 in some months last year, says Christine.
That’s when Kingdom Solar stepped in, installing about 170 panels that spread across the rooftops to generate approximately 60 kilowatts of power. The company shelled out some $100,000, partnering with Better Together Solar after a competitive bidding process to have the panels installed. Elizabeth Baptist Church will save money on its utility bills while helping the environment. And by making minimal payments to Kingdom Solar, the Webers will be able use that money to invest in similar projects in the future.
However, there are some criteria to meet before an organization is considered, Doug adds. Some are mission-based, while others are technical. “The roof must be able to support the panels, which are guaranteed to last 30 years,” he says.
Any organization will be evaluated on basis of need. “It’s not that we wouldn’t do this at more suburban churches and nonprofits because it would free up money that could go back into their communities,” says Christine. “But inner-city churches cannot survive just on their offerings.”
There is a great degree of satisfaction in this kind of giving. “It really is something of a win-win-win for all of those involved,” says Doug. “The church or nonprofit wins, the environment wins, and we get to continue helping other organizations.”