Building an American Energy Future for All 

A healthy energy future for the US—and the economic growth, good jobs, and family well-being that rely on it—calls for effectively expanding a diverse array of domestic power sources, including clean energy, in US communities. For example, community-scale clean energy projects, typically under one megawatt of capacity, offer families and community-serving institutions valuable energy savings and protection against power outages while also reducing carbon emissions.

• Early use of new federal tools for community-scale projects, including tax credits, is encouragingly widespread. So far, they’ve reached 48 states, in addition to territories, tribal nations, and the District of Columbia. Many users, such as project sponsors, are in economically disadvantaged communities that have not been able to afford these projects previously.
• But to achieve the needed scale with nationwide access and affordability, the field now needs to adopt a shared goal: effective market building centered on users rather than on disparate program requirements. It should also be powered by more standardized products and practices.
• Leaders in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors can help by using a four-pillar strategic framework for market building: Enable wider market participation by users of project capital; extend and develop market infrastructure for investors; develop and scale small and disadvantaged energy businesses; and accelerate the development of learning and knowledge exchange networks. Working examples highlighted in this piece show the way and should be expanded.

Click here to download the findings and recommendations from the strategy sprint referenced in the policy download.