Invest in Community Resilience – $15M for Resilience Campaign

 The $15 Million for Resilience campaign is gaining traction. There are a few updates that I want to share, and I am optimistic that our continued engagement with Ava Community Energy will lead to important funding and resources for our communities throughout Ava Community Energy territory in Alameda County and San Joaquin County.
   
During the Ava Community Energy board meeting on May 15, there was a debate on how resilience hubs are a climate change response by communities, and provide valuable resources and structure not only for a neighborhood’s day to day needs, but also during times of climate disaster. As a result, Ava Community Energy board members called for a study session on resilience hubs and their role in promoting climate resilience and clean energy. This is a big step in the right direction! Up until now, Ava Community Energy staff have been very non-committal about acting on community calls for resilience hub investments. Now we have a foothold to advocate more effectively for expanded resources beyond solar and storage.

Local Clean Energy Alliance recognizes that it is really important that whatever resilience hub study session takes place, community organizations need to be at the table in order to make this a community driven effort. The places that we know and love in our communities are already doing resilience work. They are amazing sources of knowledge and information and should be leading Ava Community Energy in leading a study session. Not including us not only does a disservice to the expertise of these grassroots efforts, but Ava Community Energy would be denying itself the opportunity to learn from those who have lived experiences of community problems and solutions like building resilience.

How can you get involved? Join us in advocating to the Ava Community Energy board members. We plan to attend the June 12th Board Meeting and give public comment, both in person and via Zoom. If you want to offer public comment on the resilience hub study session, please don’t hesitate to join the meeting, agenda + other details here! We want to show Ava Community Energy that there is support for community voices to be at the table.

For more details contact Ayla Peters-Paz ayla@localcleanenergy.org