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Community Voices in Energy national trainings are designed to prepare participants to address energy justice issues and drive change through energy regulatory cases that affect their communities.

Over the course of about eight bi-weekly virtual trainings, our 2024 national training explained and demystified traditional legal intervention in public utility commission proceedings, and how individuals can bring about a more just and affordable energy system through policy advocacy, organizing, and education.

Participants also gained insights from case studies such as amazing successes in Illinois.

At the end of the program the participants completed an impressive range of projects, many of which involved energy justice insights that helped scale the impact of the work. Participants received Energy Justice Intervenor certification showing that they had learned about navigating and influencing the energy regulatory system.

 

 

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The Expert Next Door

An article from the winter 2023 edition of EDF’s Solutions, about how EDF attorney Christie Hicks is working with communities in Chicago to get resident voices into the rooms where energy decisions are being made.
Boston, Massachusetts, USA Skyline
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The richest Americans account for 40 percent of U.S. climate emissions

The richest 10 percent of U.S. households are responsible for 40 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study released Thursday in PLOS Climate. The study, which looked at how a household’s income generated emissions, underlines the stark divide between those who benefit most from fossil fuels and those who are most burdened by its effects. “It just seems morally and politically problematic to have one group of people reaping so much benefit from emissions while the poorer groups in society are asked to disproportionately deal with the harms of those emissions,” Starr, a sustainability scientist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said. Previous research has shown that extreme weather events made worse because of climate change, from flooding to hurricanes, often have a greater effect on lower-income communities.
Illinois Commerce Commission chair announces decision favoring clean energy
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Advocates hail regulatory ‘earthquake’ as state slashes requested gas rate increases

Illinois regulators unanimously approved rate hikes for four major natural gas utilities, but slashed the utilities' requested rate increases by as much as 50%. The regulators also launched a series of "future of gas" hearings that will for the first time hold the utilities accountable for aligning their planning with the state's 100% clean energy goals. "As the state embarks on a journey toward a 100% clean energy economy, the gas system's operations will not continue to exist in its current form," the Commission's Chairman said in a statement.
urban lights at night in winter
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Understanding energy behaviors for a more equitable future

Dr. Destenie Nock published a new study based on research in Chicago showing that low-income households turn on their cooling systems in hot weather three degrees later than higher income households, but they turn on heat in cold weather six degrees earlier than high income households, whether because of poor insulation or other reasons. “This work highlights the challenges low-income communities face. Not only are they at higher risk in the summer, but in the winter they have to spend a lot more money to protect their pipes from freezing,” noted Nock. “The financial stress of heating homes in winter can also lead to broader inequities.” Dr. Nock's data can be used to shape policies that address systemic inequities, guide investments in infrastructure, and help improve living conditions for energy-insecure and vulnerable households. Dr. Nock has provided expert testimony in Illinois rate case proceedings.