Community Renewable Energy

Community Energy for Project Developers

Clean energy investments carry remarkable benefits including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, creation of safe and healthy domestic jobs, independence from foreign sources of energy and unstable political regimes, and security of renewable and distributed energy sources. While this website focuses not on the reasons, but on practical methods to pursue clean energy development, we frame the discussion around Community Energy projects, those that strive to demonstrate and retain the benefits of clean energy within the local community. 

While communities have much to gain from community energy development, it is important to note that developers can also gain by working with communities.  When communities are included and benefit from a local project, their participation in the process can lead to greater public support, ease in permitting, strengthened relationships with utilities, increased access to financing, and innumerable other outcomes that could add to a project developer’s potential for success.     

The first steps taken to initiate a renewable energy project are critical.  Early on a project developer, or a developer working with a project team, must determine if there is an opportunity for a clean energy project and enough energy resource to justify the project.  Feasibility also depends on the identification of potential supporters, confirm absence of major obstacles, and gauge the local community and utility’s receptivity to a project. It is important to define your role as project developer- particularly recognizing where the role may or may not overlap with the roles of project owner, project coordinator, and project manager.  We do not expect that even the most experienced of project developers will be qualified to manage every issue mentioned.  The intent is to provide background on the types of issues you may face and the ability to identify and work with professionals in that area of expertise. 

In developing this website we have attempted to balance the need for specific, practical tools and the desire to cover a wide range of technologies and perspectives.  Thus the website is not designed to take any one project from start to finish, but potential developers can learn about what types of risks, investments, considerations, relationships, technical analysis, and strategies will likely be required to pursue their community energy project ideas. 

The website is organized by the major types of renewable generating resources that are currently being developed in the Pacific Northwest.   Sections on each major type of resource (wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and efficiency) can be found by clicking on the tab at the top of the page.   In addition, separate sections for project management, a utility perspective, and additional resources delve further into subject matter that applies across technologies. Topics of particular relevance to developers such as Project Scope and Plan, Risks, Project Phases, and Professional Assistance can be found in the Project Planning section.