New Energy Equity (NEE)

What New Energy Equity (NEE) does

New Energy Equity (NEE) is a full-service solar project developer and long-term owner-operator headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, founded in 2013 and operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of ALLETE Inc. (NYSE:ALE) since March 2022. The company develops, finances, builds, owns, and operates distributed solar generation assets — primarily community solar gardens, commercial and industrial installations, municipal and school-district projects, and agrivoltaic systems that co-locate solar arrays with ongoing farming operations. As of early 2026, NEE reports 649 MW of total developed capacity, 2 GW+ in pipeline, 779 million kWh of annual generation, and a footprint spanning 16 U.S. states.

The underlying technology is conventional ground-mounted and rooftop photovoltaic arrays in the 1–10 MW range, paired with state-mandated community solar program structures that allocate bill credits to subscribing households and businesses. NEE's proprietary capability is end-to-end process integration — from site selection, permitting, and landowner lease origination through construction management, PPA structuring, and 25+ years of operations and maintenance delivered through its wholly owned Energy Support Services subsidiary — rather than any single differentiated hardware or software component. The company supports this platform with a $50 million unitranche revolving construction facility led by Silicon Valley Bank.

NEE generates revenue from four primary streams: (1) recurring payments under 25-year land leases with annual escalators; (2) community solar subscription fees and long-term PPA/REC revenue from owned and operated assets; (3) one-time project development and co-development fees earned alongside partners such as SunVest Solar, CleanChoice Energy, and East Side Solar Holdings; and (4) ongoing O&M and asset management fees. Customer segments split across landowners (farmers, agricultural property holders), residential and small commercial subscribers, municipalities and school districts, and institutional co-development counterparties. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales for landowner leases and co-developments, complemented by program-constrained subscription sales in regulated community solar markets.

Name

New Energy Equity (NEE)

Legal name

New Energy Equity

Website

https://newenergyequity.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

New Energy Equity is a full-service solar developer that builds, owns, and operates community solar, commercial, and agrivoltaic projects across 16 U.S. states, serving landowners, residential subscribers, municipalities, schools, and co-development partners, and operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of ALLETE Inc.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Solar Energy Development

NAICS

Solar Electric Power Generation (221114)

SIC

Electric Services (4911)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Solar Development & Subscription Management (EUAMAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Solar EPC & Construction (Utility-Scale, Rooftop, Balance of System) (EUAMABAB), Distributed Generation (DG) Solar & Small Wind (EUAMAJAD), Renewable Distributed Generation (Rooftop/Onsite Solar, Small Wind, Small Hydro) (EUACALAJ)

Keywords

• Solar project development
• Community solar solutions
• Solar land leases
• Commercial solar installations
• Renewable energy financing

Headquarters

HQ city

Annapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Solar Land Lease Payments: NEE enters into 25-year land lease agreements with landowners, providing them annual payments with built-in increases. This is the primary mechanism for acquiring project sites.
2. Community Solar Subscriptions: Local households and businesses subscribe to community solar projects and receive bill credits on their electricity bills, typically at a discount to standard utility rates. Revenue comes from subscriber fees under state community solar programs.
3. Project Development and Co-Development: NEE develops, builds, owns and operates solar projects, generating revenue through project development fees, equity investments, and long-term power purchase agreements or subscriber agreements.
4. Construction Financing: NEE arranges construction financing for projects, including the $50 million unitranche revolver with Silicon Valley Bank for community solar construction in New York State totaling over 60MW.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

New Energy Equity develops, builds, owns and operates distributed solar photovoltaic projects across the United States. The company provides end-to-end solar services including community solar gardens, commercial solar installations, solar land leases for landowners, co-development partnerships for other developers, and full-service operations and maintenance through its subsidiary Energy Support Services.

Product overview

New Energy Equity (NEE) is a full-service solar development company that operates as a platform of integrated services rather than a single product. The core offerings include Community Solar Projects and Commercial Solar solutions, which provide solar energy access to subscribers without requiring installation on their own properties. Supporting services include Solar Land Leases (turnkey development for landowners on 25-year terms), Acquisitions & Co-Development (for developers and financial partners), and Operations & Maintenance provided through its Energy Support Services subsidiary. NEE also highlights agrivoltaics as a differentiated approach that co-locates solar with agricultural operations. The company's portfolio spans over 649 MW developed across 16 states, with a 2 GW+ pipeline in development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Lift As We Climb Foundation: The charitable giving arm of New Energy Equity that directs funds to nonprofits dedicated to creating a better world through solar energy projects, education, and workforce training. Has raised nearly $800,000 since inception.

Products and services

• Solar Land Leases End-to-end solar development and financing service for landowners, enabling them to earn long-term income through 25-year land leases without giving up ownership of their property. NEE handles site evaluation, permitting, financing, construction, and commissioning. Annual lease payments include built-in increases over the lease term.
• Community Solar Projects Solar garden projects typically 1-7 MW in size that allow local households, businesses, municipalities, and school districts to subscribe to a share of a solar facility and receive bill credits on their electric bills without installing panels on their own property. Projects feed electricity to the local grid under state community solar programs.
• Commercial Solar Solar development services for commercial and industrial customers, municipalities, and businesses, providing clean electricity under long-term contracts without requiring solar installation on their own properties. Includes rooftop, ground-mounted, and landfill-based installations.
• Acquisitions and Co-Development Partnership services for developers seeking trusted execution and financial partners looking for scalable, low-risk deployment of solar projects. NEE brings development, financing, and operational expertise to execute joint development projects across state programs.
• Operations and Maintenance Full-service operations and maintenance for solar systems provided through Energy Support Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary. Services include 24/7 monitoring, regular site inspections, proactive maintenance, quality control audits, and grounds upkeep for solar systems across the portfolio.

Quantifiable outcome

• 649 MW total developed across 16 states with 2 GW+ pipeline in development
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Let's Share the Sun Foundation (LSTS)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 5 December 2025Nonprofit installing solar and storage systems in medically vulnerable communities in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. NEE's Lift As We Climb Foundation raised $143,000 at 4th annual charity golf tournament, including 100 kilowatts of solar modules.
• EmPowerminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 March 2022Partnership to expand NY community solar with a 2 MW community solar project.
• Harlem Consolidated School DistrictminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 March 2022Partnership on 5.54 MW community solar project with inaugural student scholarships awarded at project energization celebration.
• Engineering Concepts and Cedar CreekminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 January 2022Partnership on a 1.4 MW solar project.
• National Energy Development (NED)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 October 2021Partnership to develop the Broadway solar farm - a 7MW system on the Depew Village's abandoned landfill in New York. NED organized site improvements and NEE provided development financing.
• Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 10 August 2021Nonprofit adaptive boating organization. NEE donated and installed 25kW roof-mounted solar panels for CRAB's new Adaptive Boating Center, producing enough electricity to fully power the facility for 25 years.
• CleanChoice EnergycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2020Joint development agreement entered in 2020 with first priority on a portfolio of community solar projects in western New York. NEE provides financing and development expertise; CleanChoice provides subscription aggregation capabilities.
• Chart House EnergyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 January 2020Development partner for the 326 kW-DC Norton Shores municipal solar project in Michigan across three municipal buildings.
• SunVest SolarcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 January 2017Joint venture formed in 2017 to pursue Illinois community solar market. Partnership awarded 37.6 MW of community solar capacity under Illinois Adjustable Block Program - the single-largest portfolio awarded to any developer group.
• East Side Solar HoldingscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-developed the Moriah Community Solar project in Moriah, New York - a 7.0 MWdc facility producing over 8.3 million kWh annually.
• Radiance SolarcoreTechnology or IntegrationEPC contractor that built the Moriah Community Solar project for NEE.
• Energy Support ServicescoreTechnology or IntegrationWholly-owned subsidiary of NEE that provides full-service operations and maintenance solutions to ensure solar systems run smoothly.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Pivot Energy: Pivot Energy is a national community solar developer that develops, finances, and operates community and commercial solar projects across multiple U.S. states — directly comparable to NEE's community solar development and subscription model.
• Nautilus Solar Energy: Nautilus Solar Energy develops, owns, and operates community solar projects nationwide, often partnering with subscribers and municipalities — overlapping closely with NEE's community solar subscription business model.
• Solar Landscape: Solar Landscape is a community and commercial solar developer focused on rooftops and ground-mounted projects across the Northeast U.S., directly competing with NEE for state program awards in NY and adjacent markets.
• Ecogy Energy: Ecogy Energy is a community solar developer that develops, finances, and operates distributed solar projects for utilities and municipalities, comparable to NEE's end-to-end platform.
• CleanChoice Energy: CleanChoice Energy is both an NEE co-development partner (NY community solar) and a competitor in community solar subscription aggregation, providing retail energy supply that competes for the same subscriber base.
• SunVest Solar: SunVest Solar is an NEE co-development partner and direct competitor in Illinois community solar (37.6 MW joint award), focused on developing and owning distributed solar projects under state programs.
• Borrego Solar: Borrego Solar is a national commercial, community, and utility-scale solar developer and EPC — directly comparable to NEE's development and construction capabilities, with overlap in community solar program execution.

Emerging players

• Solstice: Solstice is a community solar subscription platform and developer connecting households to community solar projects — comparable to NEE's subscription-aggregation arm, though Solstice operates more as a customer-acquisition and software layer.

Broad incumbents

• Engie North America: Engie is a global energy major with a large U.S. distributed generation and storage business that competes broadly with NEE in community solar and storage — Bill Francis's former employer and a benchmark for NEE's emerging markets expansion.
• NextEra Energy Resources: NextEra Energy Resources is the world's largest renewables developer with growing community solar / distributed generation exposure — a broad incumbent competitor for state program capacity and long-term subscriber relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/NewEnergyEquity
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/new-energy-equity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about New Energy Equity (NEE)