By FREE Staff
The U.S. is in the midst of a historic energy transition. With the passage of massive federal legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, states and local communities are making tangible progress in the transition to a clean energy-fueled economy.
Such a shift is set to improve the lives of millions of Americans, bringing new clean energy jobs, better air quality, less waste, and better long-term health conditions. However, what has become clear as this transition has begun is that not every community benefits equally from the energy shift.
Wealthy communities have been shown to benefit more from clean energy initiatives, while low- and middle-income communities have historically been unjustly burdened by fossil fuel energy facilities and generation.
Compounding issues in these communities that stretch across energy-related problems and other societal issues create cumulative harm on residents. These include issues such as high unemployment, high air pollution, and exposure to toxic fumes and wastewater which together have contributed to the long-term creation of an unjust energy system.
As the U.S. shifts to a clean energy economy this injustice must change, particularly as the system relates to low and middle-income households. These communities need to have decision-making power in the energy system, as well as true inclusion and integration into the changes that are implemented so that they can equitably benefit from clean energy changes.
The Foundation for Renewable Energy and Environment explored the issue of an equitable energy transition in its 2022 report “U.S. Environmental Justice Challenges in the Pursuit of a Low-Carbon Energy Future.”
FREE co-founder and President Dr. John Byrne, FREE Research Director Dr. Job Taminiau and the University of Delaware’s Dharni Grover, Daniel Cristinzio and Daniel Sanchez Carretero framed the issue around the need for “low-carbon planning for all,” a strategic way of planning that “incorporates the differences in environmental and social risk, exposure and vulnerability among local communities in the formulation of new policy” in an attempt to provide sustainable energy benefits for all community members.
How to implement a “low-carbon planning for all” strategy
One way in which some U.S. states and communities are successfully adopting a more equitable energy transition plan is with the use of the strategy “community clean energy choice,” a concept FREE researchers have explored in multiple reports in recent years. This plan involves more active participation, administration efforts, and buy-in by community members to implement clean energy initiatives. This can include efforts such as giving community members oversight and control in the system by creating community advisory councils.
As it relates to solar energy, community clean energy choice programs, or CCEs, “have an impressive record of advancing solar markets to meet the ambitious solar energy targets while also offering electricity rates to community members that are below prices of incumbent utilities,” the authors write in their report, helping to make clean energy more affordable and accessible. CCEs are also more effective in including low and middle-income households in their processes, achieving high standards of social access and affordability to clean energy initiatives in a community.
A prime example of the positive impact of CCEs on communities is in the state of California. The state is currently home to more than two dozen CCEs, which represent more than 200 municipalities and counties. Many of these CCEs offer 100% renewable energy services by default with the option for residents to opt out. The move brings solar energy power to more households via municipal-level, low-carbon planning, and in a manner that includes wider swaths of the community overall.
California’s efficacy in bringing solar power to more communities is clear: “Combined, the CCEs have captured approximately 36% of the solar PV electricity market represented by the CCEs and IOUs – up from less than 1% in 2015,” the FREE authors write in their report. The state has been so effective in this area that in January the CCA released a “Model Practices Guide” to help other entities create responsible community choice associations. The guide includes information on financial management, enterprise risk management, implementation and expansion planning, transparency, and deregistration.
CCEs and other similar efforts underscore the power of low-carbon planning for all. At their core, these initiatives are focused on bringing affordable, accessible clean energy power to more people in a way that includes the community in the process of the energy transition. It is this priority that needs to lead the country’s full energy transition so that no community is left behind.