FORT WORTH, Texas — Rosa Orenstein’s passion for renewable energy started with a horrific event: the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. In the aftermath, Orenstein thought about how fossil fuel dependency was driving U.S. involvement in the Middle East, where Americans wanted to protect their oil interests.
“I started thinking about: How do we get off this fossil fuel dependency?” Orenstein, a Dallas attorney, said. “Then I started looking around until I came to the conclusion that solar was the ultimate answer because it can be distributed to the smallest unit and to the largest unit.”
A lot has changed since Orenstein began her journey to become chair of the North Texas Renewable Energy Group, which formed in early 2001.
Solar energy is growing more popular by the year, with 46% of U.S. homeowners stating they have given serious thought to adding panels at their home, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey. The Labor Department projects wind turbine technicians will have one of the fastest growth rates of all occupations between 2019 and 2029, with solar panel installers right behind.
Orenstein, who has been involved with NTREG for 18 years, knows the organization must continue its core mission of helping interested residents explore their renewable options.
But she’s also ready to lead the group toward its next goal: educating underrepresented communities about clean energy, and ensuring people of color and women benefit from the surge of renewable jobs expected in Texas.
“We have to expand and include the new technologies that are coming in, and include low-income and moderate-income communities, people of color and underserved communities so that they, too, can be part of this energy revolution,” Orenstein said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made achieving those milestones more challenging, Orenstein said. But the organization has made every effort to adapt, including taking its annual DFW Solar Tour, held over the weekend, to a virtual format.
The event showcases homes and businesses using renewable energy and energy conservation technology in unique ways.
NTREG also helps members address obstacles to adopting solar technology, including opposition from homeowners associations that restrict where panels can be installed — or if they can be installed at all. Changing attitudes toward renewables have begun to reach HOAs and the attorneys who represent them, Orenstein said.
“There is a recognition that sooner or later, it’ll just be a question of where and how the installations will be installed and not whether they should be installed in any neighborhood,” Orenstein said. “I have not seen people stopping because of opposition to solar. I’ve seen people working to resolve the challenge that is in front of them, so they can get their energy system installed.”
Orenstein wants the growing opportunities to save money on energy through solar and conservation to reach communities that need it most. Before the pandemic, NTREG hosted mobile learning events where leaders would travel to community centers, including the Martin Luther King center in south Dallas, to connect residents with information and resources about solar power.
“I know that having everything up online is great, and we’re getting a lot of participation not only locally but even from overseas,” Orenstein said. “I do regret that the coronavirus has not made it possible for us to reach into other communities that we want to make sure participate in this.”
While COVID-19 has eliminated those events for the time being, NTREG is taking other steps to bring underrepresented groups into the fold.
As part of a partnership with the Texas Solar Energy Society, the organization is launching a diversity internship program that will pay students at least $15 per hour for 10 weeks of part-time work at a renewable energy company.
College students from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply, and the organization is particularly focused on recruiting from UT Arlington, Tarrant County College, Texas A&M University-Commerce and Dallas College, according to GreenSourceDFW. Orenstein is hoping to fill six positions each for the fall and spring semesters, and provide a local mentor to each student.
Those plans reflect NTREG’s growing mission, and its desire to take its educational events to the next level, Orenstein said. In the next decade of the organization’s advocacy, she and Witte hope to see the group grow participation and provide a location for visitors to witness how these energy systems work.
As technology improves and solar energy becomes more affordable to the general public, North Texas will have an important role to play, Orenstein said.
“I think it’s a question of how we handle the transition as best as possible recognizing that we live in this region that is one of the largest producers of oil and natural gas in the world,” Orenstein said. “But because of that, Texas is also one of the answers that can move the needle in clean energy once this transition starts.”
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