Community grocers in towns across Kentucky like Salyersville, Martin, Manchester, and Frenchburg are disappearing quickly. Jed Weinberg knows the landscape and understands the challenges. He owns and manages four grocery stores that serve those rural communities. 

“People don’t understand until it’s gone, I’m afraid, that once a store is gone and all you’re left with is the Family Dollar and Dollar General. You’re in a food desert, ” Weinberg said.

Weinberg believes solar installations will help improve his bottom line in an industry with razor-thin profit margins. He’s already installed solar at two of his stores and he’s preparing for installations at two others.

In his office in rural Kentucky, Weinberg has a full-color display monitor that allows him to track the energy usage of his four grocery stores. He sees when it surges and sees when it dips, so he can track the efficiency and productivity of his new solar arrays.

Weinberg worked with Mountain Association, a Kentucky-based community economic development nonprofit and applied for a USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant that would cover a portion of the cost of the solar installations while also offering a 30% federal tax credit. The REAP program was most recently funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. Many of the funds have been dispersed through the Appalachian Solar Finance Fund.

The Mountain Association helped write the grant and provided up-front financing that Weinberg said was critical to the project. 

“It would be more difficult, and I’m not sure at these interest rates if it would work, without the help of the Mountain Association and the way they were able to help with financing,” Weinberg said.

Refrigeration demands require grocers to consume large amounts of energy and Weinberg’s solar arrays significantly reduce his energy consumption. Weinberg says the monthly savings on utility bills, coupled with the federal tax credits should mean the arrays essentially pay for themselves. So far, his savings are high enough that his hypothesis is correct. 

“It’s gone down quite substantially,” Weinberg said of one store’s electric bill. “In one store, we took the bill from $18,000 per month to $12,000.”

Those savings, Weinberg said, come as community grocers like the ones he owns are fighting for every penny to continue serving rural areas. In order to succeed as a viable employer, grocers like Weinberg must navigate price fluctuations, negative consumer sentiments around the costs of goods, and escalating healthcare costs for employees. 

Weinberg said his stores are working with the Mountain Association to assess other equipment efficiencies. One of his stores was an old Winn-Dixie, with equipment now long out of date. 

Saving on monthly electricity bills, and banking federal tax credits, will allow Weinberg to find other ways to invest in upgrades at his stores. A lot of it goes back into the business. Weinberg is able to upgrade other equipment on the property and hire more store personnel. 

While we have to make a profit, we are an essential part of this community. When local grocers move out it’s detrimental to the communities. It’s one more thing people don’t have access to. Our store is a real benefit for Salyersville and our whole area.”

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed by the 117th Congress and signed by President Biden is a piece of federal legislation that aims to reduce inflation by lowering the cost of prescription medications, investing in domestic energy production and promoting clean energy, among other objectives.