Ocean State Job Lot on Track to Quintuple Solar Portfolio by 2025

New rooftop solar array installations slated for Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey

North Kingstown, RI – (April 17, 2024) – This Earth Month, Ocean State Job Lot (OSJL), the region’s premier discount retail chain with 153 stores across the Northeast, is pleased to announce that it is continuing its commitment to building a greener future with the expansion of its rooftop solar array portfolio.

Within the next 12 months, 14 OSJL stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey, and an OSJL corporate building in Rhode Island plan to receive new rooftop solar installations, and phase two of the solar array on the Woonsocket, Rhode Island OSJL store will be completed. OSJL has completed three rooftop solar arrays in Rhode Island since 2022, at its Woonsocket, Johnston, and Richmond store locations.

OSJL will partner with Brooklyn, New York-based Ecogy Energy, and  Boston, Massachusetts-based NextGrid on solar projects of various sizes, as outlined below:

“In recent years, Ocean State Job Lot has steadily increased its commitment to reducing our impact on the environment,” said Wayne MacLeod, Senior Director of Property Development, Ocean State Job Lot. “We are thrilled to announce this next phase of our solar energy commitment, which brings us closer to meeting our long-term goal of being a Net Zero company in waste, energy, and emissions.”

Part of OSJL’s Mission, Vision, and Values is its aspirational value: “We are building a greener future.” OSJL has been honored for its environmental efforts as a recipient of a 2022 and 2023 Sustainability Leadership Award from the Business Intelligence Group. The award highlights organizations that make sustainability a prominent part of their business goals and mission.

About Ocean State Job Lot:

Founded in 1977, Ocean State Job Lot (OSJL) is a growing, privately held discount retail chain with 153 stores in New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, approximately 5,600 employees, and annual sales exceeding $800 million. OSJL Shoppers find an ever-changing array of brand name, first-quality merchandise at closeout prices, including household goods, apparel, pet supplies, seasonal products (holiday, gardening, patio, pool, and beach supplies), and kitchen pantry staples at a fraction of their typical price. The company was named a four-time “Best Employer” by Forbes® Magazine*, a three-time US Best Managed Company by Deloitte, a two-time winner of the Inspiring Workplaces in North America Award, and a Global Top 100 Inspiring Workplaces winner. *Ocean State Job Lot is not affiliated with Forbes®.

The Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation has a long history of philanthropic leadership, supporting numerous causes, including feeding the hungry, helping the homeless, assisting veterans and military families, aiding animal rescue, caring for children, advancing healthcare, supporting the arts, and promoting learning. The Foundation’s operational, administrative, and overhead expenses are covered by Ocean State Job Lot, not the Foundation, ensuring that 100% of every dollar raised through the Foundation goes directly to helping those in need.

Ocean State Job Lot is headquartered in the Quonset Point Business Park at 375 Commerce Park Road, North Kingstown, RI 02852. Phone: (401) 295-2672; Website: OceanStateJobLot.com.

About Ecogy Energy:

Headquartered in Brooklyn, New York with an office in Newport, Rhode Island, Ecogy Energy is a developer, financier, and owner-operator of distributed generation resources. Since its founding in 2010, Ecogy Energy has specialized in financing distributed generation assets for traditionally underserved entities including affordable housing, nonprofits, and municipalities. Ecogy Energy’s current portfolio comprises solar, wind, and battery storage systems across nine states, D.C., and the Caribbean. For more information, please visit https://ecogyenergy.com/.

About NextGrid:

NextGrid Inc. is a renewable power company. We develop and operate distributed solar energy and storage projects in the US. We focus on commercial opportunities in states that welcome renewable energy such as Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, California, New Jersey, Washington DC, and Ohio. We build technology to empower a network of partners to efficiently develop portfolios of distributed energy projects. Our goal is to accelerate the deployment of distributed renewable energy.

In the recent past, energy was only generated at huge central power plants and transmitted to people at the end of the line. Renewable energy generators like solar and wind bring the generator closer to the people. They distribute the responsibilities of a central power plant to new, smaller, renewable sources. We identify and develop opportunities in this transition. For more information, visit www.nextgrid.com.