ECC’s Energy Democracy work introduces communities and policy makers to the Energy Democracy framework and supports local efforts to transition from an extractive and burdensome energy system to a renewable and collective one.

As demand grows for public investments and comprehensive climate policies, shifting how our energy infrastructure is controlled, developed, and owned is vitally important. For communities that are marginalized and burdened by the current energy system, or that lack access to healthy energy systems, now is the time for this energy transition.

Our book, Energy Democracy: Advancing Equity in Clean Energy Solutions (by ECC President & CEO Denise Fairchild and Local Clean Energy Alliance Coordinator Al Weinrub), and its companion tools, the Energy Democracy Scorecard and Energy Democracy Flipbook, are being used by community stakeholders across the country to assess the state of their energy economy and adopt a more equitable and democratic approach to how local energy is sourced, distributed and operated. Throughout the year, ECC and its partners provide workshops, presentations, webinars and other programs to inform community stakeholders about the Energy Democracy (ED) movement and how they can become involved.

By centering and empowering local practitioners of energy democracy, ECC, along with the Energy Democracy Project, hosted a congressional briefing in April 2021 calling for sustainable energy policies that support energy as a human right, as well as the primacy of distributed energy/community renewables, public power and greater utility accountability as transformative solutions toward creating a clean energy future. ECC is continuing to build on this work by collaborating with local, regional and national partners to grow the ED movement across the nation.