The First Reclaim Our Power Summit is in the Books!

(10/2020) In September, the Reclaim Our Power Campaign brought together over 50 organizations over the course of two evenings for the first ever Reclaim Our Power Summit! In the midst of deadly wildfires, harrowing smoke and corporate dictated power shutoffs, our communities joined together in demanding a different future, one where we control the power. Part training, part strategy session, part organizing meeting, the summit was a chance to bring together fire survivors, people with disabilities, environmental justice advocates, youth, faith groups, energy experts and more to build our campaign to transform the energy system.

On night one, participants dug into the history of the extractive economy and the energy system in California, and illuminated how PG&E has failed our communities again and again. On night two, the Reclaim Our Power team immersed everyone in the ideal energy model that we’re fighting for, laying out the principles of Utility Justice, and how those would be enacted through resources and services, energy delivery, a just transition off of non-renewables, and energy financing. 
 
And, no powerful movement will win without cultural work at the center! We opened with a brilliant poem from Youth vs. Apocalypse’s Aniya Butler, urging us to be impatient in our fight for the energy system we all need, and we closed with what may be the first ever street mural live-zoomed into an organizing meeting, as we painted the powerful image above in front of PG&E’s headquarters in San Francisco. 
 
The Summit was also the launch of a new expanded effort for the campaign, to expand our organizing work, our research capacity, and our communications work. In order to win at the movement, narrative, regulatory and policy level, we need to bring in all the strengths of our network. We’re looking for those to join us in the Campaign Support Committee, an entity to drive forward the work of ROP out into the world! 
 
How can you join the Campaign Support Committee and help us build the campaign to Reclaim Our Power? 
  1. Get your organization to endorse the campaign at http://tinyurl.com/ROPendorse! 
  2. Look for the invite to the first meeting in late October, and the invites to join the research and communications teams!