Hi John,
This Earth Day, we want to lift up a powerful strategy for advancing a just energy future. When energy utilities are controlled by communities instead of corporations, they can play a key role in accelerating our transition to clean energy in a way that builds community wealth and environmental justice.
This week, a new report shows how publicly-owned utilities can play a leading role in transforming our energy system: The Power of Community Utilities: Publicly owned and cooperative electric utilities as anchors for community wealth building and just energy transition, from our friends at the Democracy Collaborative and the Climate and Community Project.
What does that look like? The report highlights some of the projects our affiliates are winning to make utilities answer to the communities they service:
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Affordability in Seattle: Puget Sound Sage won a debt erasure program for low-income households, and advanced innovative statewide energy justice legislation that implemented a progressive rate structure for low-income households and households with people with disabilities.
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Equity and Transparency in Los Angeles: LAANE’s RePower LA coalition successfully pushed its utility to institute a new Equity Metrics Data Initiative, which tracks how well the utility is serving all customers and whether any disparities exist geographically and demographically. It also tracks employment and procurement trends to ensure equity.
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Housing and Climate in Philadelphia: POWER launched an innovative campaign that combines two of the most critical racial and economic justice issues — affordable housing and climate. POWER is organizing to move its gas utility to take responsibility for keeping housing affordable, stemming gentrification, and making homes more sustainable.
It’s long past time we transition to a just and regenerative economy. Each day we remain dependent on fossil fuels is another day that families need to choose between putting food on the table and paying high prices to keep their home warm. It’s another day that emergency rooms are filled with people unable to breathe freely because they live close to a fossil fuel burning facility. It’s another day that corporate-driven greed puts profits above the well-being of our communities and the planet we call home.
We need community-accountable, community-owned green energy now. And we have the solutions — building deeper democratic governance, incentivizing renewable community-produced energy, establishing public banks, and many more.
Check out The Power of Community Utilities to learn more about the role community utilities can play in powering a just energy future for our families and neighborhoods.
In solidarity,
