Community-Centered Energy Transitions

Building support for clean energy buildout

Local opposition to clean energy projects is a major barrier to cleaning up the grid. So we are developing strategies to boost community support for phasing out fossil fuels and building more clean power. In partnership with the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and several community-based groups, we are testing new methods to boost community acceptance for large-scale solar projects.

First, we’re surveying households near existing, proposed, and prospective large-scale solar sites to understand their attitudes and perceptions of new infrastructure projects. Working with solar developers, we will then experimentally evaluate how different engagement tactics might increase support. Ultimately, our research will reveal empirically-grounded strategies to increase community acceptance of large-scale solar developments across the United States.