What Happened Since the Energy Democracy National Tour?

(03/2020) Did you think the Energy Democracy National Tour ended with 2018? Think again! As an outgrowth of the publication of Energy Democracy book in 2017 and the organizing of the Energy Democracy National Tour in 2018, LCEA brought together 36 organizations for a Strategic Convening on Energy Democracy in 2019 to leverage the accomplishments of the Tour to move this collective effort forward. This national gathering emphasized the centrality of race to energy issues and the goal of empowering our communities through energy democracy.

Watch this video for the recap!

The Energy Democracy National Tour in 2018 identified a number of energy democracy initiatives that for reasons of timing and resource limitations could not be formally included in the Tour. Discussions with these initiatives indicated a strong interest in engaging with the organizations that hosted Tour events to strengthen the growing energy democracy movement. In addition, discussions took place with organizations in the Midwest that were also planning a Convening for Local Power with the intent of furthering local and trans-local campaigns for energy democracy.
 
As a result of these discussions, we organized a strategic convening of leaders of Tour host organizations, aligned Midwest organizations, and other energy democracy organizations to build collaboration and plan next steps for strengthening the movement to democratize energy in the U.S. 
 
More than 20 organizations across the U.S. collaboratively organized the agenda for the convening. Hosted by Soulardarity in Detroit, representatives from 36 organizations came together for 2.5 days in July and achieved the following goals:
 
  1. Share expertise and knowledge about how to advance the energy democracy work participating organizations are doing
  2. Develop stronger organizational relationships
  3. Identify common technical and resource needs and propose an organizational framework for addressing these needs
  4. Develop more collective responsibility and strategies for strengthening the emerging energy democracy movement
 
This could not have been made possible without the generous support from the following organizations:
 
  • California Alliance for Community Energy
  • Centennial Parkside Community Development Corporation
  • Co-op Power
  • Comité Diálogo Ambiental, Inc.
  • Cooperative Energy Futures
  • Democracy Collaborative
  • EcoWorks
  • Energy Democracy National Tour
  • Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy
  • NAACP Climate Environmental Justice Program
  • Institute for Local Self-Reliance
  • MACED
  • One Voice
  • Oregon Just Transition Alliance
  • Partnership for Southern Equity
  • Solar United Neighbors
  • Soulardarity
  • Trade Unions for Energy Democracy
  • Wisconsin Green Muslims
  • Race Forward
  • Surdna Foundation
  • RE-AMP
  • Lush
  • Earthjustice
  • Center for Biological Diversity. 
 
The outcomes of this Strategic Convening will be carried forward as a national “Energy Democracy Project.” The Project is envisioned as a group of affiliated organizations that serves as a collaborative resource to  advance the work of organizations democratizing energy in the United States. In particular, it represents a collaborative for advancing and strengthening the movement to democratize energy. Affiliated Organizations advocate for community-based, solutions-focused, frontline-led, and justice-centered renewable energy efforts.
 
We are seeding our collective power this year, and look forward to sharing with you our collective action in 2021!