Loomis, CA
Loomis Basin Congregational UCC, in Loomis, California, is certified as a Cool Congregation at the 100% reduction level for installing solar that powers their all-electric buildings.
“As progressive Christians we understand that true justice requires that all of creation be healed in the process. God’s reign can only truly come to fruition when creation and its longevity are the center point of our flourishing. We celebrate being a congregation that takes environmental justice seriously because it is central to God’s invitation to co-create and be good stewards of this beautiful planet.” Rev. Casey Brian Tinnin, Church Pastor.
IPL congratulates Loomis Basin on their accomplishment!
Ginny Day presents the Certificate to the church moderator, Jenna Claryn
Read the story of this 150-member congregation in the words of church member Ginny Day,
“We are becoming more aware of the issue of climate change as we have been impacted by the growing frequency and severity of wildfires in our area.
We heat and cool, and power our buildings with heat pumps and don’t use gas for anything. We installed solar panels to provide 100% of our electric needs. The cost was $29,000, and we save $6000 annually on energy bills.
Our electricity usage from the grid was 13,000 kWh, and our panels provide enough electricity to share the excess production of approximately 3500 kWh back to the grid to green the grid for others.
We have reduced our electric bill to 0 (except for transmission charges,) and we have reduced our carbon emissions by 2 tons annually. Also, since we elected to go with Pioneer Community Energy, our excess electricity is helping to provide “green” energy for others.
We are part of a coalition of congregations in Placer County, “Placer People of Faith Together,” which has a “climate care” group, Placer Earth Care Action (PECA).. The cost savings that we have reported from our solar has persuaded a couple of other congregations who are part of the coalition to promote solar to their churches.”
IPL’s Cool Congregations Certification recognizes carbon reductions resulting from permanent changes made to congregational facilities to cut the use of fossil fuels. Since the Loomis Basin congregation gets all of its energy needs from the sun, they are recognized at the 100% reduction level. This is a laudable accomplishment, but Ginny reports the congregation is aiming to reduce emissions from other activities as well.
“Our building’s electricity is 100% green and renewable, but when I used the Cool Congregations calculator, it reminded me of all the other carbon-producing aspects of congregational life that we could work on reducing.
Because of our location (we are somewhat rural), there is no public transportation, and most of our members don’t carpool. Among our members, we have 3 or 4 EVs plus a fair number of hybrid cars, but most are gas vehicles, so I calculated our overall level of carbon reduction was only about 10%.
We plan to “green” our food service, update our heat pump, and put a rideshare app on our website. We are also looking into getting an EV charger in our parking lot in a couple of years.”
Loomis Basin UCC website: https://www.loomisucc.org/
