Policy Lessons

1. Community vision should guide federal support.

Communities know their needs and priorities. Solutions need to put them in the driver’s seat, allowing them to lead with deep shared knowledge of their lived experiences and their vision for their future. To support a community-led approach, federal grants should be crafted to be flexible to communities’ unique circumstances and enable them to solve multiple challenges at once, such as building resilience, creating jobs or lowering local air pollution. Moreover, federal agencies should work hand-in-hand with community leaders throughout the implementation process to ensure that funding supports their vision.

• Example: The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe sought to address the challenge of strengthening their resilience in the face of extreme weather by building a solar microgrid. DOE’s Office of Indian Energy worked as a partner through their project, responding to their priorities and helping them solve the challenge they identified in their community by offering financial and technical assistance – from advice on working with contractors to navigating deadlines during the pandemic.

2. Leveraging trusted voices and networks can enhance the adoption of new solutions.

When sharing new information or funding opportunities on climate and clean energy, federal agencies need to work with voices and networks that communities trust. Some communities may be less likely to approach federal funding opportunities or solutions for a variety of reasons – including their location, lack of resources, historic injustices and more. Therefore, federal agencies should find networks and information channels that reach these communities, as well as trusted voices who can validate funding opportunities that may be of interest.

• Example: Farmers tend to place greater emphasis on farmer-to-farmer communications and local networks, in part because agriculture is incredibly diverse and some practices in one region may have little value in another region. In order to encourage farmers to consider new information about climate change and even change their farming practices, staff at the Midwest Climate Hub have worked diligently to both establish direct outreach with farmers and leverage existing channels of trust, education and communication. Its success in embedding itself in networks that farmers trust and use has been essential to its success in deploying new climate tools and practices.

3. Underserved communities should be prioritized for federal climate funding.

To drive equitable progress on climate, we need to increase the share of federal funding opportunities for communities that have disproportionately borne the country’s environmental burdens – especially communities of color that have been historically impacted by discriminatory past policies and underinvestment. The Justice40 Initiative is a clear reflection of the importance of this principle in action: It aims to ensure that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved and overburdened by pollution.  Federal funding for climate innovation has the opportunity to lead within this initiative and go even further.

• Example: The Department of Energy’s Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize specifically aims to build an inclusive innovation ecosystem by financially supporting and providing mentoring to disadvantaged communities and individuals from groups historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). One of the prize recipients, Green Door Initiative, is using this funding to expand its solar installation training for underserved communities in Detroit, Michigan.

4. Technical assistance is a critical enabler.

Applying for federal grants can be burdensome. Accessing federal and private funds for large-scale clean energy projects often requires existing financial resources and technical capacity, which many communities and small businesses or start-ups may lack. Applying for such funds may demand, for example, environmental impact reviews, market analysis and extensive knowledge of federal regulations. Federal agencies should offer technical assistance, such as sharing knowledge about designing clean energy projects or supporting applicants to navigate detailed grant applications, to help communities and businesses overcome these barriers. Widening the circle of information-sharing, by describing how other applicants have successfully applied and implemented this funding, can also help applicants fund and execute their projects effectively.

• Example: DOE’s Office of Indian Energy worked with the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe throughout the grant process, helping them navigate the multitude of federal regulations and paperwork that come with federal funding, as well as offering sharing expertise on how to build solar microgrids. The Office of Indian Energy also provided examples of how different tribes approached similar projects, helping them connect with those tribes to learn more.

5. Funding pilot projects can put solutions to the test in real-world conditions, supporting broader scale-up.

Pilots  – or demonstration projects – are critical for moving new climate solutions and technologies from research and development (R&D) to the market. They allow for real-world learning and improvements with communities and can inspire confidence that moves the technology toward commercialization. Notably, the demonstration stage has been historically underfunded compared to federal investment for climate R&D. Federal lawmakers should continue funding for this critical stage in the climate innovation process.

• Example: The Smart Neighborhood case study demonstrates the power of pilots, allowing researchers to learn about how residents change their power usage in real time and how to apply solar-and-battery-storage technology successfully. The real-world findings gathered from these demonstrations will help optimize the use of clean energy and efficiency technologies.

6. Program evaluation can help drive even more impactful investment in the future.

The federal government should embrace learnings around what works and what doesn’t — the chief goal of policy program evaluation — to allow policymakers to improve future policy design. Program evaluation can help maximize impact for communities and build more support for federal funding in the future. Program designers and implementers should identify key metrics, such private investment raised, job creation, technology performance data, and community and social impacts, as well as create plans for measuring outcomes from the outset.

• Learn more: Two reports commissioned by EDF offer valuable insights and recommendations on how to best design and evaluate clean energy and innovation programs.