In summer 2020, Groundswell, the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance Institute (REBA), and The Solutions Project joined forces to accelerate an equitable clean energy future for all by leveraging corporate renewable energy purchases to deliver local community benefits alongside clean energy. Connecting large corporate buyers to community-defined clean energy priorities and organizations through procurement tools such as Request For Proposal (RFP) language and community engagement processes holds the potential to rapidly accelerate energy equity by sharing clean energy benefits with local communities. Bringing local frontline leaders together with corporate renewable energy executives to co-create solutions was a fundamental part of this project’s development.
As part of this initiative, Groundswell and our partners together with The Hummingbird Firm hosted “Working Wisdom Listening Tours” in February 2021. These listening sessions focused on how corporate sustainability leaders can communicate and establish longer-term transparency and co-creation processes with local communities and leaders while extending support to grassroots community groups nationwide.
For more information or questions about the Communities+Corporates program, please contact research@groundswell.org
Check out Groundswell’s Corporate and Community Engagement Primer and the Corporate and Community Engagement Decision Framework that emerged from this work below. These resources outline key recommendations for framing community engagement for corporate renewable energy buying, siting, and procurement practices.
Primer Report