GRID Alternatives (GRID) is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California. Founded by Erica Mackie and Tim Sears in 2004, it installs solar power systems and provides job training for underserved communities and operates in the United States, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Nepal.[1]
| Formation: | 2001 |
| Type: | 501(c)(3) |
| GRID Alternatives | |
| Founder: | Erica Mackie and Tim Sears |
| Founding Location: | Oakland, CA |
| Tax Id: | 26-0043353 |
Grid, styled "GRID," was founded during the 2001 California energy crisis by Erica Mackie, P.E., and Tim Sears, P.E., two engineering professionals.[2] According to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program profile, it "piloted its flagship Solar Affordable Housing Program in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2004, and subsequently expanded to other parts of the state."[3]
In 2008, the company was selected by the California Public Utilities Commission to serve as the statewide program manager for its Single-family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) incentive program, prompting an expansion across the state.[4]
In 2013, Grid expanded its work outside of California for the first time in Colorado.[5]
GRID Mid-Atlantic, serving Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, was launched in September 2014. In 2017, GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic was selected to administer Solar Works DC, a program of the Washington, D.C. Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) and Department of Employment Services (DOES).[6]
Grid has nine regional affiliates; seven serving California and offices in Denver, Colorado and Washington, D.C. It also partners with Indigenous tribes throughout the country through its National Tribal Solar Program, of which Tim Willink, from Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico, of the Navajo Nation, is director. Grid has installed over 900 residential solar systems with tribes[7] and brought solar PV to the vast majority of homes on the Bishop Paiute Reservation in California.[8]
In September 2017, regional affiliate GRID Alternatives Tri-State, serving New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, closed due to a recent Federal trade case decision that created uncertainty around future solar panel prices. In their press release, however, the company stated,