About the Episode:

When Hurricane Helene devastated Asheville and western North Carolina, it left communities with widespread power outages, overwhelmed hospitals, and destroyed critical infrastructure. Months later, many are still navigating the long road to recovery after one of the most severe natural disasters to hit the region. For Nico Johnson, who calls North Carolina home, the storm was an urgent reminder of the escalating intensity and unpredictability of extreme weather.

In the immediate aftermath, organizations like the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) and Footprint Project took decisive action—mobilizing solar microgrids, portable solar generators, and atmospheric water generators to provide relief to those hardest hit.

Matt Abele, Executive Director of NCSEA, and Will Heegaard, Operations Director of Footprint Project, detail their coordinated response. Matt shares how NCSEA rallied local support and resources, while Will recounts deploying renewable technologies ahead of the storm’s landfall to ensure they were ready when disaster struck. Proactive measures—such as staging solar equipment and partnering with local solar companies can save lives, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and pave the way for more sustainable recovery efforts.

Hear how clean energy transformed disaster relief in North Carolina and learn how you can support efforts to build resilient communities prepared for future crises.

Our continued thoughts and prayers to those still recovering from this storm.

Helpful RESOURCES:

Connect with Will Heegaard:

• LinkedIn

Connect with Matt Abele:

• LinkedIn

Check out Footprint Project:

• Website | LinkedIn | X | Facebook | Instagram

Check out NC Sustainable Energy Association:

• Website | LinkedIn | X | Facebook | Instagram

Resources:

• You can support these efforts here www.mysuncast.com/aid

NOTEWORTHY QUOTEs:

“The renewables industry can see the long game of climate disaster response and recognize that there might be a market entry opportunity for the rebuild and recovery space. We can change the face of disaster recovery in a really positive way that isn’t predatory, that supports the local communities where they are, and sets up the renewables industry for a really positive outlook as we think about how we’re going to rebuild communities in the face of climate change.”

— Will Heegaard

“Many of these efforts are a response versus proactive investment in resilient infrastructure. Now we have that opportunity in western North Carolina. As we do build back, we build back with resilient infrastructure in the form of community resilience hubs, we place a really strong emphasis on distributed resources and the value that those can bring to help keep the power on for vulnerable communities.”

— Matt Abele

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