Centering Community Experiences in a Regional Action Plan

Common Spark Consulting was brought into a four-county regional Energy Efficiency Action Plan development process to conduct outreach with community groups. Common Spark’s consulting changed the process from a one-off stakeholder convening to a series of interviews with community-based organizations to accompany and shape a stakeholder convening. Common Spark interviewed fifteen organizations ranging from community-based organizations to program administrators and city staff that elevated lived experiences that were missing from the data the project team had collected. Interviews surfaced  circumstances where households were regularly facing $400-$500 energy bills per month (over three times the average bill in the region), and unveiled scenarios where households are turned away from the Weatherization Assistance Program due to immigration vulnerability or disqualifying health and safety conditions in the home. By complementing published data with community perspectives and voices, the project and resulting Action Plan were able to develop more holistic near- and long-term solutions to support energy efficiency in the region.