Page Gravely and Dan Last, Executive Vice President of Client Services and Chief Operating Officer respectively of the non-profit program, Catholic Energies, operate out of an office in historic Middleburg. Together with the rest of their small Washington D.C. area based team, they are passionate about helping others attain their renewable energy goals. Catholic Energies is beginning to help facilitate that in a major way for several Catholic organizations.

It all started when Pope Francis issued his 'Laudato Si', an edict calling on his flock to focus on climate change issues, and how to turn back the tide, and ensure that our planet is not destroyed by its incumbents. The Pope wants to see Catholics leading by example with renewables, recycling, and tree planting, by blending science with religion to do so. As a result, Catholic and other organizations which own large tracts of land, have been investigating ways in which they may be able to capitalize on those properties, sustainably.

Catholic Energies helps such organizations, nationwide, by seeking out investor funds and providing the expertise needed to create localized solar farms to provide low-cost energy to those entities. In this win-win scenario, the organization ceases its dependency on fossil fuel energy, reducing significantly its carbon output and does not see any increase in its energy costs. In fact, with these significant investments, often amounting to several million dollars, the churches and faith-based groups amass enough credits to power a number of their buildings.

The way this works is that Catholic Energies brings together the church, school or organization with an investor such as a renewable power company, with that investor contracting with a company to install the often hundreds of solar panels needed, plus the infrastructure to tie it all together. In return, the investor receives a 30% federal tax credit, as well as, potentially, additional state credits, depending on location.

Last month, Catholic Energies concluded its first project, a 440 solar panel installation on the roof of the Immaculate Conception Church in Hampton, Virginia. To mark the important occasion, Immaculate Conception's Father John Grace consented to pose for the camera, with its new rooftop solar array, for the photo seen here.

They have plans to complete their second project, a major installation in northeast Washington D.C., in partnership with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, during 2020. This will consist of 5,000 solar panels installed in a field owned by Catholic Charities, which will be capable of providing energy to hundreds of D.C. homes. This program will make Catholic Charities eligible for sufficient credits to power up to 12 of their buildings.

In return for securing the funding and managing the project, Catholic Energies receives a fee for fulfilling each project. This covers the costs of its small contingent of staff, however, it views the business as a mechanism to make a significant impact against climate change, one project at a time while helping to fulfill a papal mandate. Quite an achievement.