Perch Energy Becomes a Certified B Corporation

Perch Energy is thrilled to announce that we are now a Certified B Corp! We’re proud to be a company focused on making renewable energy accessible to homeowners, renters, businesses, and government entities, and that we can do it successfully with our values at the forefront of our business.

At our core, we’re focused on addressing consumers’ clear desire for cleaner energy options and lower energy costs through the deployment of community solar. Not only that, but we’re doing it in a way that disrupts the current paradigm of how energy is managed in the United States. Community solar turns our power system on its head by placing many small solar power plants all over the country. And we help that process by making the direct benefit of these new shared carbon-free sources of energy broadly accessible to individual households and businesses.

Being a B Corp

A Certified B Corporation can be any type of business or non-profit that has met rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. B Corps are certified by the non-profit organization B Lab, which evaluates a company's impact on various stakeholders, including its workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.

We started the process of getting certified in 2021 because Perch fundamentally believes that business can and should be a positive force. We see significant gaps in the current economic and business framework that can be improved by offering broader accessibility for people and businesses who want to positively impact our environment, adopt renewable energy solutions, and reap savings.

It’s great that some individual households and businesses can afford to put solar on their rooftops and save on their electricity bills over time, but too many people simply don’t have that option. We want everyone to directly benefit from the transition to a more sustainable energy system. As one of the leading clean tech platforms bringing renewable energy solutions to consumers, we are operating with accessibility to renewable energy and savings as our North Star.

Always striving to be better

By getting our certification, we have shown that we’ve met a standard and committed to being an inclusive, people and environmentally driven company. But it also means that we recognize that we are not perfect and will strive to improve continuously. Part of how we are held accountable to that commitment is by re-certifying every three years.

The assessment by B Lab is meticulous. After completing an initial assessment covering aspects such as governance, workers, businesses that we work with, community impact, and environmental practices, Perch provided B Lab with an extensive amount of documentation. This verification process by B Lab included detailed documentation about our operations, policies, and practices. The assessment is designed to evaluate the company's impact on all stakeholders—workers, customers, communities, and the environment—not just shareholders. This also includes a review of the businesses we work with, because we’re only as good as the company we keep!

Importantly, B Corps are required to make their Impact Assessment scores publicly available. This commitment to transparency allows stakeholders, including consumers and investors, to assess and verify a company's social and environmental performance.

Companies need to score a minimum of 80 points to attain certification. Our score is 93.4 out of a 200-point scale. This shows that we’re doing more than enough to meet the requirement, but also shows that there is always more to be done.

What we do well

Some of the highlights from our Impact Assessment™ are very encouraging. Because the core of our business is about accelerating the shift to renewable energy and providing lower costs for electricity for those who need it most, we scored some brownie points.

Additionally, Perch achieved certain employment benchmarks of at least 50% of both our managerial and non-managerial staff identifying as women—something that is uncommon for energy companies.

Perch actively advocates for new and improved ways to expand access to clean energy options for consumers. We do so by participating in legislative and regulatory proceedings to support the expansion of community solar for anyone who cannot access the benefits of rooftop solar.

Our advocacy supports policies that maximize social benefits for low- and moderate-income consumers and residents of disadvantaged communities to access these benefits and lower their energy burden.

Perch also has robust benefits for our employees. In addition to significant employee equity options, Perch also provides opportunities for career growth by financially supporting professional development benefits like courses and conferences.

Our commitment to volunteering and charitable contributions is something we’re proud of. Every year, Perch sends thousands of dollars and pledges our time to impactful causes, with each team getting to choose where and how to donate. We volunteer hundreds of hours every year to clean rivers or support food banks, and work to raise money for the things we believe in.

A company in good company

Perch is excited to join the ranks of other like-minded companies that are evolving our economy and our local communities with impactful environmental and equitable solutions. But even more exciting is that our customers have told us they are looking for a partner that aligns with these values and will work with them to deliver on their energy needs. All of us at Perch are incredibly grateful that we’re able to expand renewable energy solutions to address climate change, and to do it in a way that brings everyone along for the ride. It is vitally important that we continue to innovate and transform our energy system to address climate change—and do it in an equitable and responsible way.

For our customers, we know that our new certification means that they can be confident that a company they support is working towards a brighter future with fidelity and the promise of being a force for good. This commitment ensures that consumers are not just using a service but supporting a company that values and invests in people.