Designing a Community Energy Program 

Community energy programs can take many forms. While one community might successfully conserve energy through energy-efficiency upgrades of its buildings, another community might be equally successful in a program that converts wind into electricity. Designing an energy program in your community will be dependent upon your community’s specific goals, resources, and conditions. But there are many resources that offer guidelines and step-by-step approaches to developing a program that meets your community’s goals. 

Community Energy Opportunity Finder, Version 1.0 is a new free, on-line tool from the Rocky Mountain Institute. The Finder allows users to enter basic physical and energy information about their community and calculate potential dollar savings, emissions reductions and jobs gained by increasing community energy efficiency. Those with no technical knowledge gather easy-to-find local data and, in just a few days, produce multiple scenarios for their community based on different economic assumptions.

Designing a Clean Energy Future: A Resource Manual was developed by the Minnesota Project, in partnership with the University of Minnesota's Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce, to help identify options for communities interested in developing their energy resources. The manual contains an overview of nearly every renewable and clean energy source available, an extensive listing of resources, and nearly 30 case studies of renewable/clean energy projects.

The Sustainable City Project, funded by the Urban Consortium Energy Task Force through the U.S. Department of Energy, aims to provide local governments with a model for community energy efficiency. The project involves three U.S. cities—San Jose, California; San Francisco, California; and Portland, Oregon—which developed sustainable energy plans that can serve as models for other communities. A publication titled Sustainable Energy: A Local Government Planning Guide for a Sustainable Future, which was developed as part of the project, will lead your community through a process of developing a municipal energy plan, and offers energy policies and energy options from the three program cities. The publication is available from Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clearinghouse (EREC), P.O. Box 3048, Merrifield, VA 22116. Phone: (800) 523-2929. Publication number LG-10. 

The Energy Services arm of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives helps local governments adopt a comprehensive energy program. Its website offers information on strategic municipal energy planning, profiles of municipalities undertaking such projects, and information on why these energy programs are important to communities.

The Energy Group at Tellus Institute provides expertise on the technical, economic, environmental, regulatory and policy aspects of energy planning. Its Web site includes link to information about the technical and policy issues the group address, including energy and the environment, demand-side management, the Eco-Efficiency Initiative, and others. There also are links to recent studies, reports, and publications related to these topics, as well as newsletters that contain research papers and information on work in progress. 

The Center for Neighborhood Technology’s Community Energy Cooperative is partnership between CNT and Commonwealth Edison (ComEd). Under the aegis of this regional coop and its relationship with ComEd, neighborhood-based organizations are running programs that achieve peak load reduction, increased energy efficiency, improved system reliability and that eventually install microgrid technology as an alternative, place-based and sustainable source of power.

Case Studies 

Cities and Counties: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally
Presents 10 case studies of innovative communities that have implemented sustainable development programs. Several of these programs include an energy component. 

Pleasanton City Energy Plan (PDF)
Approved by the City Council in December 2002, this new energy plan draft includes a number of provisions to reduce energy and water consumption, increase the use of renewable energy, and reduce vehicle miles traveled.

Texas Renewable Energy Mandate
Explains an effective policy in Texas that requires a minimum amount of electricity generation from renewable energy -- a policy known as a "renewables portfolio standard." According to a study by the American Wind Energy Association, this policy is "the most effective policy any state has recently adopted to promote renewable energy."

West Virginia Energy Action Plan
In August 2002, the Governor's Energy Task Force unveiled a new, groundbreaking energy action plan for the state, which calls for the continued use of the state's coal and natural gas resources, while also urging the development of new energy and environmental technologies, energy efficiency measures, and the use of renewable energy forms.

Publications 

Community Energy Workbook, Rocky Mountain Institute.
Offers a step-by-step process for achieving sustainable, community-wide energy savings. Worksheets help calculate a community’s energy bill and estimate the benefits of energy efficiency improvements.

Energy: Efficiency and Production, Center for the Study of Law and Politics. 
Through its Global Cities Project, the Center for the Study of Law and Politics has produced a series of handbooks focusing on environmental topics. The collective handbooks are called Building Sustainable Communities: An Environmental Guide for Local Government. The volume titled Energy: Efficiency and Production will help municipalities design and implement a comprehensive energy policy and discusses such topics as assessments and goals, local government operations, technology demonstration, regulation, public-private partnerships, and municipal utility programs. The guidebook also includes volumes on solid waste, water, transportation, open space, urban forestry and land use, greenhouse gases, air quality, water quality, and environmental management. Available from: Center for the Study of Law and Politics, 2962 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94123. Phone: (415) 775-0791. 

Last updated: January 28, 2005

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