Community energy is the emerging efforts of municipalities to better prepare for the infrastructure necessary to support the economic vitality and quality of life in their communities going forward. It involves working in collaboration with local utilities and others to optimize energy use and supply for a particular community, including areas such as:
Renewable distributed generation projects at the residential, commercial, industrial and institutional level.
Energy efficiency and demand-side management programs
Smart grid and micro-grids to better integrate renewables, optimize distributed energy to local load
Infrastructure to support vehicle electrification and other efforts to shift energy demand to more efficient/effective approaches to resource use
Community energy is distinct from discussions of energy more broadly in that it focuses in on those components where local and regional governments play a large role
Planning: Community energy planning efforts and plans that develop a clear path for a particular city, county, state or region to optimize an energy mix. These efforts involve analysis and assessments to better understand the emerging energy needs in a particular community--heating, cooling, power, transportation and more. It also involves understanding what unique opportunities and resources a community has available to it in efficiency and energy sources.
Policies: Incentives, regulations and other initiatives that encourage energy optimization decisions.
Projects: Community energy projects that involve harnessing the energy opportunities residing in municipal assets, campuses, planned developments, and other institutional and industrial settings.
Planning
Policy
Projects
What does it mean to do community energy planning at a municipal level? At a county level? At a state level?
How can community energy planning and utility planning successfully intersect?
Which policies are encouraging the adoption of distributed energy from businesses? From residents?
What siting, land-use, and other regulatory challenges are communities facing and addressing successfully?
How do different incentive programs stack up?
What commercial-ready technologies are being leveraged in municipal operations, buildings and more?
What are the keys to success to scoping, financing, building and operating these projects?
What emerging technologies should be on the radar screen now?
What innovative approaches to ownership and public/private partnerships are being explored with success?
