Nooksack Valley Food Bank may save up to about $400 a month on utilities after the grant-funded installation of a solar panel array at its Everson location. 
Last year, the nonprofit food bank saw a more than 40% cut in the amount of food it was previously receiving from a federal program and two nonprofits it’s supported by. 
Puget Sound Energy awarded the food bank a $63,655 grant for solar panels in December. Amy Steele, director of the nonprofit, said in an interview the utility bill for the building in Everson was about $400 a month before the upgrade. 
The first bill since the panels were installed by Western Solar, a Bellingham-based company, in late May was cut in half, Steele said. The nonprofit’s leaders anticipate the solar panels will cover nearly the full amount. 
Steele said the money saved is the equivalent of a half-gallon of milk in each box taken home by clients for one week. About 250 to 270 households across Whatcom County receive food from the nonprofit weekly, she said at a ribbon-cutting for the solar panels on Thursday, June 12.
Nooksack Valley Food Bank’s distribution site in Everson is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 100 E 2nd St., Everson. The food bank’s Sumas location is currently closed due to flooding in December 2025. Miracle Food Network, a separate nonprofit, distributes food on Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Sumas Advent Christian Church, 125 Front St., Sumas.

Sophia Gates covers rural Whatcom and Skagit counties. She is a Washington State Murrow Fellow whose work is underwritten by taxpayers and available outside CDN’s paywall. Reach her at sophiagates@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 131.
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