HOUSTON, February 20, 2025 /3BL/ - On Thursday, February 20, Texas Hearing Institute and Green Mountain Energy Sun Club “Flipped the Switch” on a newly installed 150.7kW rooftop solar array, as part of the institute’s sustainability initiative to become more energy efficient. Green Mountain Energy employees participated in a tour of the facility and spent the morning volunteering within the Melinda Webb School reading to students.
In 2024, Green Mountain Energy Sun Club awarded a $244,000 grant to launch the nonprofit’s new sustainability initiative that aims to reduce its environmental footprint and reduce its operational expenses. The new 274-panel solar array will save Texas Hearing Institute nearly $16,000 in annual energy costs, which will allow them to provide audiology services at no cost for an additional 55 children with hearing loss each year. This upgrade will also reduce the organization’s environmental footprint by 331,179 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) over the lifetime of the array. That’s the equivalent of 932 households turning their lights off for a year!
“At Green Mountain Energy, we know each sustainability grant we support brings us closer to a cleaner future,” said Andrea Ortega-Toledano, senior director of sustainability, Green Mountain Energy. “We especially love solar projects because they transform sunlight into energy, ultimately helping make goals a reality for our partners.”
Founded in 1947, Texas Hearing Institute’s mission is to identify childhood hearing loss as early as possible, provide families access to integrated medical, educational and support services by understanding each child’s uniqueness and empowering them to achieve their best outcome. Texas Hearing Institute CEO, Kyle Swift, believes that the new sustainability project will further the organization’s mission.
"We are thrilled to have received Green Mountain Energy's grant to install a solar panel system at Texas Hearing Institute,” Swift said. “This generous contribution will not only have a positive environmental impact, but THI will benefit from decreased energy costs for years to come, allowing those funds to instead be used to help children with hearing loss reach their full potential."
Green Mountain Energy invites its customers and employees to contribute to Sun Club and help support more projects that promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, resource conservation, and environmental stewardship.