Morris Designated as a SolSmart Silver City!

The awards and recognition just keep coming! The city of Morris is receiving a Silver designation from the national SolSmart program for making it faster, easier, and more affordable for homes and businesses to go solar.

This designation recognizes Morris for taking bold steps to encourage solar energy growth and remove obstacles to solar development. For companies looking to expand, a SolSmart Silver designation is a signal that Morris is “open for solar business.”

SolSmart is led by The Solar Foundation and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. More than 400 cities, counties, and small towns have achieved SolSmart designation since the program launched in 2016.

“The city of Morris has been busy aggressively pursuing actions to realize the clean energy goals identified and approved by the City Council in the 2018 Sustainability Strategic Plan, specifically the generation of 80% of the electricity consumed in Stevens County by renewable resources by 2030,” explains Morris Sustainability Project Coordinator Chris Watkins, “this work has positioned Morris well for the coming energy transition and has resulted in continuing recognition from national and state organizations that the community can be very proud of.”

As a SolSmart designee, Morris is helping solar companies greatly reduce the cost of installations and pass those savings on to consumers. This allows even more local homes and businesses to obtain affordable, clean, and reliable electricity through solar. The actions Morris has taken will help encourage solar companies to do business in the area, driving economic development and creating local jobs.