Pulaski County receives SolSmart Gold designation

October 28, 2020, Pulaski County has been awarded the SolSmart Gold designation from the Virginia’s Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy’s SolSmart program through the Energy Transition Initiative of the University of Virginia. The Gold designation is in recognition of all the hard work and leadership Pulaski County has demonstrated to promote solar energy development and reduce barriers to the public in going solar. Pulaski County received a perfect scorecard of 255 points out of 255 points submitted. In addition to the Gold Designation, Pulaski County has also earned a Special Recognition Award for earning over 60% of the available points in the Inspection category of the gold qualification process.
“The Board of Supervisors are always looking at strategic ways to assist our citizens and make processes easier, this Gold designation further demonstrates that we have made it easier and more affordable for citizens and business to move to solar and is just one of many examples of those continuing efforts”, stated Jonathan D. Sweet, County Administrator. “Our Planning and Zoning department did an excellent job in working with the SolSmart Team to expedite our designation and we weren’t going to be satisfied with just a Bronze or Silver, so we went for the Gold and I am very proud that we hit our mark.”
Out of 139 Gold Designations across the country, there are only three (3) communities in Virginia that have achieved this award – Pulaski County, Alexandria and Fairfax County. Other Virginia communities who have a SolSmart designation include Arlington, VA (Bronze), City of Fairfax (Bronze), Richmond Virginia (Silver), Loudon County (Silver), Charlottesville (Silver), and Blacksburg (Silver).
SolSmart is a national program led by the International City/County Management Association and The Solar Foundation, along with a team of partners with deep expertise in solar energy and local governments. SolSmart uses objective criteria to designate communities that have successfully met these goals. These communities receive designations of SolSmart Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Since the program launched in 2016, more than 350 cities, counties, and regional organizations in 41 states and the District of Columbia have achieved SolSmart designation, representing over 90 million people. All cities, counties, and regional organizations are eligible to join SolSmart and receive no-cost technical assistance to achieve designation.
To learn more about the SolSmart program, please visit https://solsmart.org/