A Puget Sound Energy (PSE) Green Power Solar Grant will help The Alliance Center in downtown Kent save money through lower electrical costs.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 26 recognized the installation of solar panels at the building, 515 W. Harrison St., covered by a $96,375 grant from Bellevue-based PSE awarded earlier this year.

The Alliance Center has since installed a 30.38-kilowatt project, which can generate nearly 31,000 kWh annually, according to PSE. This would reduce 45% of their annual electricity use with solar energy.

“These solar panels will reduce nearly half of The Alliance Center’s operational costs, allowing them to focus more on providing food, health services, and outreach to the community,” said Josh Jacobs, vice president of Clean Energy Strategy and Planning at PSE. “Solar arrays like this are how we strive to bring our community with us on the transition to a clean energy future.”

The Alliance Center is a group of organizations dedicated toward advocating for establishing a stable, adequate and dedicated funding for community health and human services.

PSE has awarded $935,000 historically throughout King County, and more than $4.6 million to 59 local non-profits. Past grant awardees include King County Housing Authority, the Muckleshoot Housing Authority, Northwest Harvest and the Kent Methodist Church.

Nine other organizations throughout PSE’s service area were awarded a total of $753,620 this year. The Kent Food Bank and Emergency Services is one of the organizations making up The Alliance.

“The organizations that make up the Alliance Center are excited to be awarded the Green Power Solar Grant,” said Pat Pawlak, president of the Kent Food Bank and Emergency Services Board. “The organizations that make up The Alliance Center are nonprofit agencies; we are always looking for ways to reduce our overhead costs so we can direct more of our funds to helping the members of the communities that we serve. In addition, this grant for solar power provides us the ability to give back to the environment.”

More than 80,000 PSE customers have chosen to take part in PSE’s Green Power and Solar Choice programs, generating more than 736,000 MWh (megawatt hours) annually, enough to power nearly 70,000 homes per year.