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When the third cohort of Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP) communities was introduced in 2023, the inclusion of Molokai, Hawaii, caught the attention of Bri Gabel, a sustainability coordinator for the Metropolis and Borough of Sitka, Alaska. Sitka was additionally chosen for ETIPP, and Gabel noticed a chance to infuse some latest learnings from Molokai into Sitka’s ETIPP venture.
“I did my undergrad in Hawaii, and so I’ve at all times form of regarded to Hawaii as inspiration for among the work that I do,” she mentioned. “There are a number of similarities between Alaska and Hawaii … a number of related challenges and prices related to having to ship every part in.”
ETIPP combines technical experience from 4 nationwide laboratories with native data from regional companion organizations to assist island and distant communities pursue their vitality resilience targets. Whereas this system, which is managed by the Nationwide Renewable Power Laboratory, has traditionally emphasised constructing connections between researchers, native organizations, and neighborhood members, it additionally supplies a spot for communities which can be working to shift towards sustainable vitality methods to be taught from one another.
Though Molokai and Sitka have completely different renewable vitality targets, they each view neighborhood engagement as a important factor to succeed in these targets.
Molokai entered ETIPP with a Group Power Resilience Motion Plan (CERAP), which outlines 10 vitality tasks that have already got gone by way of a technique of creating consensus throughout a number of stakeholders and secured neighborhood help. Sitka, which is embarking on its second spherical of technical help by way of ETIPP, is seeking to choose renewable vitality choices primarily based on an ETIPP evaluation of future forecasted vitality demand.
Molokai has already established some profitable neighborhood engagement practices that Sitka hopes to emulate in its ETIPP venture.
“The work [Molokai had already done] was so just like the work that we’ll be doing with our present ETIPP work,” Gabel mentioned. “It was fascinating to … see the place we may form of construct off a few of their work or at the least not begin from zero.”
Assembly Group Members The place They Are To Enhance Participation in Power Resolution-Making
Sitka first joined ETIPP in 2021 with a give attention to exploring viable renewable vitality choices and conducting capability planning for future vitality wants. The neighborhood’s newest ETIPP venture will analyze and examine future forecasted vitality demand, accounting for elevated masses from heating electrification, electrical transportation, and different decarbonization applied sciences. The outcomes of the evaluation will assist Sitka match beforehand recognized renewable vitality alternatives to fulfill forecasted vitality demand.
In Molokai, constructing on the priorities specified by its CERAP, the island’s ETIPP venture will mannequin and assess the feasibility of photo voltaic vitality, determine renewable vitality sources to help important infrastructure, and discover pumped hydropower as an choice for vitality storage.
After reviewing Molokai’s plan on-line, Gabel’s crew was impressed by not solely the varied neighborhood illustration mirrored within the doc but additionally the diploma of vitality training Molokai supplied residents through the planning course of. Gabel mentioned Sitka needs to attract closely from Molokai’s method of weaving training and engagement collectively in Sitka’s ETIPP venture.
“We actually favored that earlier than they even began asking a few of these greater questions, they actually tried to … enhance folks’s vitality literacy so that they felt knowledgeable and had an understanding of what’s occurring,” she mentioned. “So not simply talking at them, however truly having a dialog.”
Gabel invited Leilani Chow, an vitality sovereignty program coordinator at Sustainable Molokai, to current a few of Molokai’s insights to Sitka’s Accountability Fee. Chow’s presentation highlighted strategies utilized in Molokai to construct neighborhood consensus and participation.
In Molokai, vitality planners began by asking neighborhood members how they needed to take part and what they noticed as obstacles to participation. Once they heard “neighborhood fatigue” was one of many predominant limitations to partaking in vitality planning, Chow’s crew created engagement alternatives that had been extra handy for his or her goal individuals.
“We tagged onto different neighborhood occasions. We might get a sales space and provides folks lemongrass tea and say, ‘Can I decide your mind actual quick about some vitality stuff?’” Chow mentioned. “They’d spend 5 to 10 minutes with us after which they might go. They didn’t have to remain in a gathering. We had been actually conscious about retaining it brief and candy.”
Chow mentioned Molokai additionally took cues from neighborhood members about how they most popular to be taught extra about vitality and tried settings starting from Zoom conferences to pop-up occasions.
Everybody on Molokai is taken into account a stakeholder whose enter issues, Chow mentioned. However conducting thorough and methodical outreach helped them attain key teams together with first responders, emergency preparedness groups, important infrastructure operators, conservation teams, and homestead associations.
Though the engagement course of was time-consuming, Chow mentioned the end result was price it.
“The neighborhood is tremendous excited to begin wanting into these tasks. It’s simply made an excellent stronger case for community-led vitality planning, when communities codesign their tasks,” Chow mentioned. “These tasks present much more than simply vitality options; they supply general neighborhood options in a holistic manner. [ETIPP has been] letting us lead on the neighborhood course of that we all know has labored for us and that we wish to proceed to strengthen.”
Creating House for Group Voices To Lead Power Transition Discussions
Again in Sitka, pleasure and momentum are constructing across the neighborhood’s ETIPP venture, as effectively. The researchers and regional companions supporting Sitka’s ETIPP venture traveled to Sitka in December 2023 to raised perceive the neighborhood’s wants and what outcomes Sitka is anticipating from the venture.
“I do like that ETIPP is structured to have technical help consultants and neighborhood engagement consultants,” Gabel mentioned. “[It shows] an understanding that you really want each of these issues to ensure that these items to achieve success.”
There aren’t any assumptions that “simply because they’re vitality consultants, they know every part they should know,” Gabel mentioned. “The most important problem has been making an attempt to let the neighborhood know that these consultants are right here to assist, however they’re not simply right here to talk to you—they’re right here to pay attention.”
Gabel mentioned she has been grateful for the ETIPP crew’s vulnerability as they’ve labored with the neighborhood to finalize the venture’s scope of labor.
“Individuals [in Sitka] are very opinionated and anxious about a few of these issues, and so it’s not simple to come back in right here and let folks primarily grill you about what’s occurring as a result of we’ve to actually construct that belief earlier than we truly get going into a few of this work,” she mentioned. “The crew has been nice, and I’m excited to truly get this [ETIPP project] scope finalized and transfer into the subsequent section of this technical help.”
Sitka is utilizing the neighborhood enter from the December 2023 assembly to finalize the small print of its ETIPP venture. And as each ETIPP tasks progress, Gabel mentioned Sitka hopes to return the favor to Molokai.
“I even have [Molokai’s] technique printed out and marked up like loopy,” Gabel mentioned, “and I positively allow them to know that we’d be pleased to speak extra and form of share some fascinating finds from our preliminary ETIPP work.”
Go to the ETIPP technical assistance page to be taught extra about this system and keep tuned concerning the 2024 software interval.
Courtesy of NREL. By Brooke Van Zandt
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