Perch Energy And Arcadia’s Community Solar Subsidiary Merge To Create New Solar Venture

Arcadia and Perch Energy have joined forces to create the largest dedicated community solar acquisition and management platform in the United States. This new standalone venture, majority-owned by Arcadia, will focus on accelerating community solar adoption nationwide, backed by strong financial support and a board composed of Arcadia and Perch investors.

Bruce Stewart, President and CEO of Perch, will take the helm as CEO of the new company and serve on its Board of Directors, while Kiran Bhatraju will continue in his role as CEO of Arcadia and also sit on the new venture’s board. Both Arcadia and Perch have been pioneers in community solar, bringing decades of energy expertise, delivering strong returns for solar developer partners, and providing high-quality service to diverse customer bases, including commercial, residential, and low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities.

Together, the new venture will manage over 3 GW of solar capacity across 1,000 solar projects in 16 states, serving more than 300,000 residential customer equivalents. The combined expertise will leverage proprietary software and automation to streamline operations and maximize utility bill savings for consumers and businesses — having already saved customers an estimated $90 million to date.

This strategic partnership will blend Arcadia’s strengths in customer acquisition, billing, and utility data software with Perch’s expertise in serving commercial customers and providing Production-to-Payment reporting capabilities. The combined leadership and policy teams will ensure a seamless transition for all customers while positioning the new entity for organic growth and future M&A opportunities in the rapidly expanding community solar sector.

Bruce Stewart, CEO of the new venture, stated “We believe this venture reflects the natural evolution and maturation of the community solar business, and are excited to merge two strong teams with such dynamic and complementary services and technology. This venture also speaks to the clear need we’ve heard from solar project developers and asset owner partners who want a financially strong and scalable partner that can reliably serve them for decades. A partner that can support them with their growth plans and meet customer demand, as residents, businesses and governments continue to embrace community solar across the US.”

Kiran Bhatraju, founder and CEO of Arcadia, mentioned, “We’re thrilled to join forces with Perch and continue delivering millions of bill savings for residential and commercial customers. Bruce and team share our values and belief in community solar as the best energy product in the market, and as an essential tool in the coming years to create resilient distribution grids.”

The announcement comes as Arcadia continues to expand its role as an energy solutions platform, offering enterprise customers global utility data integrations, AI-powered analytics, and comprehensive energy management solutions. Although the new venture will operate independently, Arcadia’s platform business will benefit from the increased scale of this community solar expansion, enhancing its Energy Procurement Advisory offering.

Community solar is a transformative model that allows homeowners, renters, and businesses to enroll in local solar projects and receive credits on their electricity bills for their share of the power produced. It requires no new transmission infrastructure and can be deployed four times faster than utility-scale solar, making it a crucial driver of clean energy adoption and electric grid resilience. With this partnership, Arcadia and Perch are not only reshaping the community solar landscape but also advancing the mission of expanding clean energy access, enhancing grid reliability, and delivering meaningful cost savings to customers across the country.