CCSA Connect Terms & Conditions

Introduction

Thank you for being a member of the Coalition for Community Solar Access! And, welcome to CCSA Connect, CCSA’s member engagement platform. This online engagement platform, or community, is a private, member-only benefit where CCSA members will interact, find member-only resources, events, discussions and more.  

CCSA Connect includes all CCSA state committees and policy committees, which have committee-specific self-moderated discussion forums, events, and libraries. There are also several groups where only CCSA staff will be posting information, updates and content. 

To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation in CCSA Connect. The launch date is March 5, 2025. 

Please note:

• Features vary depending on membership level with CCSA (Leadership, General, Affiliate); therefore some of the below Terms & Conditions and Community Guidelines may not apply to all membership levels

• CCSA reserves the right to update features and settings of certain functionalities overtime

Acknowledgement and Agreement

By joining and using this member engagement platform (aka community platform), you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions, shared files, and content to that best suited to the community platform. This is a great platform with which to connect with staff and peers within the CCSA Membership, benefit from their experience, and participate in ongoing conversations. 

-> Questions should be directed to CCSA Operations via the Contact Us link on this site. <-

Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact Amanda Vanega, CCSA Director of Operations and Membership for support. In order to preserve an environment that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community platform for anyone who violates these rules.

The Rules

• Respect others. Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Please extend the benefit of the doubt to newer guests and members; there’s no such thing as a stupid question.

• Respect the purpose of the community. Use the community to share successes, challenges, constructive feedback, questions, and shared goals of CCSA instead of products or services that you provide. If you’ve found a product or service helpful, please share your experience with the group in a respectful way.

• Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the discussion groups and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.

• All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.

• Respect intellectual property. Post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator.

• When posting items in our collaborative environment, please indicate if the item is not available for reuse. It’s also advisable to contact the owner of any material if you would like to reuse it.

• Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate communities. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating "noise."

Discussion Group Etiquette

• State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.

• Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals, not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link in every message.

• Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” to the group. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing email addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new email address. Simply change your settings.

The Legal Stuff

This site is provided as a service for the members of the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA). CCSA is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by CCSA or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall CCSA be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials.  Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants CCSA and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.

Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.

While CCSA is engaged and initiating many conversations through the committees and communication channels of the site, CCSA does not actively monitor every single post or response for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of CCSA, we will take all appropriate action.

CCSA reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.

Privacy Policy

Any personal information you provide to us including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of our organization except as noted below.

With Whom Do We Share the Personal Information We Collect Through This Site:

Our Service Providers
We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.

Business Transfers
Your personal information may be transferred to another entity (either an affiliated entity or an unrelated third party) in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Privacy Policy.

Government and Legal Disclosures

We may disclose the personal information we collect through this Site, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, or others.

External Sites
We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.

Cookies
A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognize you each time you visit this site (personalization, etc). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by 3rd party content providers such as news-feeds.

Remember The Risks Whenever You Use The Internet
While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies.  For any other information please contact us using the Contact Us page.

Reminder: 2025 CCSA Membership Commitments

Initiation or renewal of membership in the Coalition for Community Solar Access (“CCSA” or “Association”) requires that members annually commit to the following. Please note, the primary contact for your company has officially accepted this agreement as part of your company's participation in CCSA. These commitments are included here as a reminder for all individual members of CCSA. Thank you for being a CCSA Member!

Members agree to abide by CCSA Terms and Conditions of Membership, as follows:

Members will comply with and abide by the policies and procedures that may be adopted by the Association’s Board of Directors.

Each member’s designated representative is authorized to receive and distribute CCSA communications and to vote on matters presented for ballot to the general membership, if applicable. Member will not divulge to persons other than Member’s staff any information identified as confidential by the Association’s Board of Directors. Should the Member desire to make a public statement or issue a press release regarding CCSA or its activities, Member shall first submit such proposed statement or release to the senior management of CCSA for review. By paying the invoice for Membership dues, the Member acknowledges and agrees to the foregoing Terms and Conditions of Membership, the below enclosed CCSA ‘Core Principles’, and CCSA Partner the Solar Energy Industries Association’s Solar Business Code, formally adopted by the Coalition for Community Solar Access.

CCSA’s Membership and Board Membership eligibility and terms and conditions include the following:

Any business that is either majority controlled by or affiliated through a mutual parent holding company with a regulated U.S. utility shall be eligible to become a Member based on the following conditions: (1) Board Membership eligibility and level of CCSA Membership will be subject to the discretion of the Board, based upon the business’s ability to uphold CCSA confidentiality requirements and ability to not divulge to persons other than Member’s staff any information identified as confidential (and then only to those who themselves agree to hold such information in confidence), and respect and pursue CCSA’s Core Principles, (2) participation in Committees in states where any regulated affiliate operates is not allowed.

Any business that has a non-controlling investment from an entity receiving investment from or affiliated with regulated utilities or their parent holding companies shall be eligible to become a Member, with Board Membership eligibility and level of Membership subject to the discretion of the Board, based upon the business's ability to uphold CCSA confidentiality requirements and respect and pursue CCSA's Core Principles.

Should the Member’s affiliation with a regulated utility change during the course of its Membership with CCSA, Member agrees to inform CCSA of the change within 30 days.

Membership dues are non-refundable and payments are payable to the Coalition for Community Solar Access by direct deposit (preferable) or check. Membership fees are invoiced, due and payable at the time of billing. Renewal invoices 30 days or more past due may result in Membership suspension and 60 days or more past due will be reported to the Board of Directors. Leadership Members that opt to make quarterly payments are required to fulfill the membership payments through each calendar year. Requests to cancel membership will take effect following the calendar year. Members must provide notice of address or billing changes within a timely manner.

Members agree to abide by CCSA’s Antitrust Compliance Policy, as adopted January 6, 2016.

Members agree to abide by CCSA’s Member Code of Conduct and Committee Policies (Applicable to the members and membership levels with committee participation)

This Code of Conduct governs the environment for CCSA Members, particularly for those working in Committees and Working Groups. We created it not because we anticipate bad behavior, but because we believe that articulating our values and obligations to one another reinforces the already exceptional level of respect among Members and because having a code provides us with clear avenues to correct our environment should it ever stray from that course. As our Membership base grows, we aim to maintain a productive environment where ideas can be shared and debated respectfully, with the end goal in mind to uphold CCSA’s Core Principles and expand access to solar for all.

Member Code of Conduct

• Every Member’s opinion will be thoughtfully considered.
  
  

• Members will speak respectfully to each other and CCSA Staff.
  
  

• CCSA Staff will manage Committee communications and any disagreements among membership.
  
  

• Any public representation of CCSA positions by Members should reflect CCSA’s established position and clear authorization from CCSA Staff must be given before the position can be disseminated publicly.
  
  

• Silence is acquiescence. Members and their respective companies will communicate and be transparent about their policy goals and strategies with CCSA Staff; and will voice dissent in committee calls or in written form for debate amongst the committee.  CCSA Staff will communicate policy goals and strategies with CCSA members.
  
  

• Members will address potential conflicts of interest or diversions from CCSA’s strategy with CCSA Staff prior to coordinating with external stakeholders.
  
  

• Members will not directly contact consultants engaged through CCSA without CCSA Staff’s knowledge and explicit authorization.
  
  

• Members commit to maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive information shared within CCSA and its committees. This includes avoiding the unauthorized sharing of confidential information with external parties.
  
  

• Members are encouraged to respect standard business hours in their respective time zones when communicating with CCSA staff. While flexibility is appreciated, it's important to be mindful of staff workloads and avoid excessive after-hours communication.

Primary Communication Channels: CCSA primarily utilizes committee calls, leadership meetings, and member webinars as platforms for member engagement and question-answer sessions (not one-on-one calls with Members). Members are encouraged to utilize these channels for timely and efficient communication. Using these primary channels is essential to ensure that all members have access to and awareness of important information and positions.  Any communications through individual or other channels may be addressed based on Staff's discretion and bandwidth. 

Failure to abide by these guidelines will result in issuance of a notice of violation to the Board of Directors by CCSA’s Chief Executive Officer, along with a recommended course of action to be adjudicated by the Board.  Failures to abide by the guidelines in the form of individual violations or patterns of behavior violations shall be determined at the discretion of the Chief Executive Officer and adjudicated by the Board of Directors.  Any issues with the management of campaigns or Committees should be brought to the relevant Director, Chief Executive Officer, Vice President of Government & Public Affairs, Vice President of Operations, and/or Vice President of Policy.

Committee Chair Positions

• The Federal Committee and every State Committee shall each have two Chairs.
  

• Only Leadership members may serve as Chairs.
  

• Chairs shall be nominated by Members and elected by the Committees directly, offering one vote to each Member company active on the Committee.

• Members may nominate themselves.
  

• The top two vote getters will be Chairs. If there is a tie, a runoff election will be held.
  

• Chair opportunities include priority access to staff leads, intelligence, in person meetings, and leadership amongst the Committee.
  

• Chair responsibilities include (1) ability to engage when needed by staff for work-sharing, counsel, whipping Member perspectives, (2) supporting CCSA staff to facilitate member Committee calls; (3) knowledge of and physical access to state market, and (4) adherence to CCSA Core Principles in providing position and political strategy preferences and recommendations.
  

•  Chairs shall on an annual basis work with the Regional Director on a straw man "Lessons Learned” document that will seek committee feedback to influence future CCSA market tactics and strategies.
  

• A committee Chair title would follow an individual if they were to move to a new company mid year, provided that that company is also a Leadership level member of CCSA. If a committee Chair resigns mid-year (either by moving to a new company that is not a leadership level company, or otherwise) an interim election will be held unless the election process is scheduled to begin within a 30 day period. If a committee Chair goes on leave at any point during their term, a proxy from their company may stand in until the Chair returns.
  

• If a conflict of interest arises or if it is determined that a Chair is not fulfilling their duties as described above, CCSA reserves the right to require a Chair to step down from their role. An interim election will be held unless the election process is scheduled to begin within a 30 day period.
  

• Chairs shall be elected annually in November and shall serve calendar year terms. New chairs will participate alongside prior chairs for a transition period between the election and the end of the year.
  
  

Characteristics CCSA is looking for in Committee Chairs 

• Experienced
  

• Collaborative
  

• Respectful
  

• Even-handed
  

• Long-term sustainable market view
  

• Not afraid to roll up their sleeves
  

• Balanced expertise depending on the state (leg v. regulatory & business models)
  
  

Co-funding Policy

To support specific market projects or efforts that fall outside the scope of standard membership dues, CCSA may occasionally provide Members participating in state committees the opportunity to make additional financial contributions. CCSA staff will directly communicate specific funding requests and amounts to committee Members. Committee Members may choose to voluntarily contribute to these requests. CCSA's accounting team will invoice contributing companies. CCSA staff will provide updates on project completion.  Unspent project funds will be applied to CCSA market expenses agreed upon with the contributors at the inception of the project. If the entire project is canceled, funds will be refunded to the contributors.

Members agree to the Adoption Process for the following items: CCSA Core Principles, Core Policies, and Position Adoption 

Core Principles Adoption Process

• CCSA’s Core Principles are a concise set of overarching principles that guide organizational vision, mission, core policies, and culture. 
  

• CCSA’s elected Board is responsible for developing and maintaining the Core Principles, with at a minimum, an annual audit.  Process and decision making of Core Principles is done based on Board governance rules set out in the Bylaws of the organization. 
  

• The Board reviews and updates the Core Principles in Q1 of each calendar year.

Core Policies Adoption Process

• CCSA’s Core Policies are a set of internal cross-market policies that CCSA advocates for at the state and federal level. 
  

• CCSA’s Policy & Issues Committee (PIC), made up of Leadership Members and managed by staff, develops and proposes Core Policies based on meeting CCSA’s Core Principles. 
  

• Process and decision making of Core Policies, based on interpretation of Core Principles, is accomplished through the Committee Decision Making process described below. 
  

• The Board officially adjudicates and approves a set of internal Core Policies for policy and advocacy guidance in all CCSA markets. 
  

• Core Policies are audited annually by the Policy Committee.
  

• The Policy Committee may also develop public-facing core policy documents based on the official Core Policies as needed.  

Position Adoption Process

• The below process represents CCSA’s formally adopted process under optimal staffing conditions.  There may be instances where time or staff bandwidth is limited, and truncated versions of this process are employed.  

CCSA staff makes policy and advocacy decisions and recommendations based on the following criteria.

• Core Principles
  

• Core Policies
  

• Annual market and organization goals, and according to the Board approved budget
  

• Strategic considerations both for the market itself as well as for other markets that may be impacted.  If there is nuance to strategic considerations, staff shall consult membership.  

CCSA staff process seeks to drive General Consensus through its Position Adoption process amongst Members by gathering Member input and iteration. General Consensus is defined as no strong (i.e. multiple Members advocating for alternate position in line with above criteria) vocal opposition during multiple discussions – by email, Committee calls, other formally adopted asynchronous Committee communication tools – on a topic.

• This process includes opportunities for Member objections within development of policy or strategies. These include:
  

• Preparations in advance for a well-informed committee – send out agendas well in advance (at least 48 hours, if possible), drawing attention to the decision that needs to be made through bold or highlighted text. Where possible, facilitate decision-making by outlining decision options (e.g., option A, option B) and a staff-proposed path forward.
  

• During calls, provide as much context up front as possible. Explain why the decision needs to be made, what led up to the process and what the issue is. Explain context around similar decisions CCSA has made in other states, if possible.
  

• Provide an opportunity for those members to provide education and opinions on the issue.
  

• Come prepared with one or more recommendations for the group to consider (preferably outlined in the agenda or on a slide, so people can see it in writing).
  

• Open the issue up for constructive, respectful debate in line with CCSA’s Code of Conduct. 
  

• Use google forms to gather feedback and information after the call to allow for more input from members, as needed/applicable.
  

• When the conversation or conversations have come to an end, determine if there is a middle ground or if it is an either/or decision. Staff makes an informed decision based on the conversation(s).
  

• Committee meetings, email correspondence, and other formally adopted asynchronous Committee communication tools shall be the only venues for discussion and debate of policy positions with CCSA staff.
  
  

• In the instance where Core Principles or Policy precedence or General Consensus is not possible, CCSA staff follow the below process:
  

• Determination by staff lead and supervisor and Committee Chairs if we need to take a public position or not.  If not, the issue will be referred to PIC, but no further action.
  

• If position is necessary urgently, the elected CCSA Board adjudicates staff’s recommended action, and then the issue is referred to the PIC for further discussion, debate, and potential formal position recommendation to the Board. 
  
  

• Other considerations.
  

• CCSA follows the above process for position adoption but may employ straw polls of Members from time to time to better gauge Member positions on issues. 
  
  

Members agree to abide by CCSA’s Mission and Core Principles, as follows:

CCSA Mission

The Coalition for Community Solar Access is a national Coalition of businesses and non-profits working to expand customer choice and access to solar for all American households and businesses through community solar. Our mission is to empower every American energy consumer with the option to choose local, clean, and affordable community solar. We work with customers, utilities, local stakeholders, and policymakers to develop and implement policies and best practices that ensure community solar programs provide a win, win, win for all, starting with the customer.

CCSA Core Principles

We promote policies, programs, and practices that:

• Opportunity: Open, expand, and protect competitive, sustainable community solar markets through comprehensive engagement in all aspects of community solar market design, enablement and innovation.
  

• Access: Allow all consumers the choice to participate in and receive a tangible economic benefit from new community solar assets, and ensure those economic benefits are communicated and realized in a clear, timely and transparent manner.
  

• Integrity: Guarantee community solar market rules create a safe, reliable marketplace for consumers to make informed choices for products that work for their needs.
  

• Value: Ensure project compensation is reflective of the full value of the locally-sited energy produced by community solar projects.
  

• Efficiency: Champion transparent, non-discriminatory, and evidence-based rules on siting and interconnection for expedient and fair community solar project development.
  
  

CCSA Team Values

CCSA Staff commits to upholding the following values: 

• Focus on Results. We have clear and ambitious goals that drive everything we do on a daily basis. Every day we ask ourselves the question: will the actions I take achieve results that get me closer to my goals? If the answer is yes, then we push forward. Setbacks happen and not everything is in our control, but we focus on what we can control and move toward our goals one victory at a time.
  

• Foster Dialogue. We debate ideas, not people. We take the energy of our differences and channel it toward something that has never been created before. The problems we tackle are colorful and complex. To drive to the right decision, we believe in respectfully and productively debating ideas and leaving our egos at the door.
  

• Put people first. We prioritize the well-being of our team and take the approach of the “whole person”. We believe that we bring our best selves to our professional lives when we are balanced and taking care of ourselves and each other.
  

• Inclusivity. We deeply value diversity of thought, background, and lived experience – and through this is where our most transformative, lasting innovation grows. As our industry expands, we are committed to actively bringing new people, businesses, and localities into the fold, especially those who are traditionally underrepresented.
  

• Member Service. We represent the collective voice of our members, who want to see community solar expand and grow. We provide a valuable service to our member community, keeping them up to date on our campaigns and policy initiatives, which helps them plan and grow their businesses. We also serve members by amplifying their collective voice to expand their impact in the market.