Washington, D.C. (January 13, 2021) — Clean Energy Works reports that the number of utilities with newly approved or recently mandated inclusive utility investment programs in 2021 exceeds the last five years combined.
In the last year, work to advance inclusive utility investment programs and policies has expanded in states including Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, and Virginia. Eight years ago only Kansas, New Hampshire, Kentucky, and Hawaii had inclusive utility investment programs with strong consumer protections. Clean Energy Works has helped catalyze adoption in six additional states bringing the total to twelve states on a path toward adopting inclusive utility investment programs.
Inclusive utility investment makes more customers eligible to access all cost effective clean energy upgrades, regardless of their income, credit score, or renter status. These upgrades can include equipment to electrify buildings and transportation. In an inclusive utility investment program, a utility pays for energy upgrades at a customer’s premises and recovers its costs through a fixed charge on the participating customer’s utility bill that is less than the estimated savings.
In Missouri, inclusive utility investment programs were advocated for by Renew Missouri, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming Missouri into a leading state in renewable energy and energy efficiency. “Clean Energy Works helped Missouri stakeholders access information about inclusive utility investment programs around the country, including neighboring states, and now we have one of the fastest growing utility investment programs for building energy upgrade programs,” said James Owen, Executive Director of Renew Missouri.
“By 2050, all 130 million U.S.homes must be fossil free. However, the majority of Americans are systematically disqualified from accessing upgrades to better buildings because of factors like income, credit, and renter status. To assure the clean energy economy is both inclusive and equitable, we must bring practical, hands-on expertise to support utilities, policy-makers, and community champions so that we can scale adoption at the speed required.” said Tamara Jones, Managing Director of Clean Energy Works.
“We see a path to a fossil fuel-free future that assures the benefits of a clean energy economy reach everyone. Inclusive utility investments with strong consumer protections are a game changer that ensures every customer can access all cost effective clean energy upgrades,” said Dr. Holmes Hummel, Executive Director of Clean Energy Works.
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Clean Energy Works accelerates inclusive investments that open the clean energy economy to all. Clean Energy Works envisions a world with a 100% resilient clean energy economy that provides opportunities and benefits for everyone.
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Dr. Holmes Hummel founded Clean Energy Works to accelerate investments in the clean energy economy on inclusive terms that are fiscally sustainable and financially scalable. Since then, Clean Energy Works has won recognition as a winner or finalist in five international searches for high-impact innovation and breakthrough solutions for clean energy deployment. Previously, Dr. Hummel served as the Senior Policy Advisor in the Department of Energy’s Office of Policy & International Affairs from 2009-2013. Among the responsibilities in that role, Dr. Hummel convened the first agency-wide working group on finance with a focus on expanding participation in the clean energy economy. In addition to prior work with energy innovators in the Silicon Valley, Dr. Hummel earned a doctorate degree from Stanford University for interdisciplinary research on energy technology scenarios that achieve 100% clean energy for all. As an Adjunct Professor at Stanford today, Dr. Hummel collaborates with Dr. Anthony Kinslow II to teach a course called Quest for an Inclusive Clean Energy Economy.
Tamara Jones is the Managing Director of Clean Energy Works. She brings more than fifteen years of managerial experience in the nonprofit and public sectors. She has served as Director of programs and policy for mayoral administrations in Atlanta and Houston, as Chief of Staff to a Houston City Councilmember, as the Executive Director of the Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network (SAAFON), as the founder of the Social Justice Impact Project / Inquiring Systems Inc., and as a consultant guide to dozens of organizations over ten years of independent practice. In the energy sector, Ms. Jones held positions of Director of Program Development & Government Relations at Southface Energy Institute and Director of Programs and Services for the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA). At SEEA, she administered regional energy efficiency building retrofit programs for which she was designated a White House Champion of Change in 2011. Ms. Jones holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Philosophy from Long Island University Brooklyn Campus and a Master’s degree in Political Science from Yale University.
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