Renewable energy success hinges on strong strategies for community support

Aspen, Colorado—known for excellent ski conditions and majestic mountain peaks—has recently joined elite ranks as it became the third American city to achieve 100 percent renewable energy generation.

Joining Burlington, Vermont and Greensburg, Kansas, Aspen will hopefully inspire other cities to adopt strategies and projects that replace non-renewable, carbon-emitting sources of energy with cleaner, more efficient, renewable sources like wind, hydro, solar and landfill gas.

But as Al Maiorino, founder of the Public Strategy Group, points out in this article, it is not always enough to have the knowledge that something can be done for people to want to push for changes. Maiorino suggests that all too often, projects that could help other cities achieve 100 percent renewable energy generation are delayed or cancelled altogether because measures taken to build the necessary public support are not pursued, are ineffective, or are initiated too late to counteract negative opinion.

For example, in February of 2015, a proposed South Dakota solar farm was cancelled after 30 residents who lived near the site spoke out against the project. In August, plans to create a combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Fife, Scotland were rejected despite the potential creation of 20 jobs and an additional 50-100 positions to handle sales of heat to other businesses.

Maiorino suggests that more needs to be done to help build public support for these types of projects from the very first moment a proposal is announced to ensure these initiatives come to fruition.

“Too often, a silent but supportive majority exists in communities where a new project is proposed. By incentivizing the issue… residents will be more apt to speak out in support. There is no magic word to urge people to get involved in support, but through proper education and advocacy techniques, the kinds of defeated proposals of yester-year can have a shot in 2016,” – Maiorino.

He offers some strategies to companies and city planners looking to run an effective outreach campaign to help make their clean energy proposals a reality.

1. Think beyond the traditional press release. Increasingly, news and information is being shared among members of the community in diverse and innovative ways. A press release is no longer the one-stop shop for disseminating information to the masses. A press release may be more effective as a “supplemental tool,” with other (see below) tactics employed to maximize your exposure to reporters and community members with social reach.
2. Get social on social media. Your proposal might just be a hashtag away from becoming a social media sensation. Maiorino suggests that individual projects need separate Facebook and/or Twitter accounts so that you can “educate residents both in bite-size and expanded content,” while targeted advertising on social media can rapidly increase the reach of your content throughout the community. Social media channels require an investment in terms of time and money, as active monitoring and prompt response times are crucial and targeted advertising is not cheap, but the benefits of exponential exposure and the ability to educate the community about your campaign quickly and easily are too important to pass up.
3. Make sure sites are mobile-friendly. It is estimated that 50 percent of information is consumed via mobile devices, so websites increasingly need to be designed with mobile-friendliness in mind. Ensure the main points are concise, but include links to more detailed fact sheets and research so that interested readers can access additional information. Maiorino also suggests adding website functionality so that residents can easily send form letters endorsing your project directly to public officials. The easier it is for supporters to fill out a couple of simple fields and “send a letter of support while they are standing in line at the grocery store,” the better and more successful your campaign will be in the long run.
4. King Content only rules if Big Data supports it. Not only do you need data to supply important information about your target audience so that you can generate content that is appealing and relevant, but you also need data that tells you where to send your excellent content to help maximize returns. Compiling data that helps locate your supporters, as well as your opponents, will ultimately inform your strategies on how to best leverage content to meet your goals.
5. You don’t know until you ask. As Maiorino points out, “many supporters would provide vocal support, but they are never asked.” This is where the call to action is critical to getting the silent supports vocal and active in the community promoting your initiative. Stream speaking events online and ask supporters to live Tweet the event or host information sessions for advocates to learn how to become involved. “Letter writing campaigns and speaker recruitment for public hearings are essential to demonstrate community support to public officials and ultimately, gain project approval for any renewable proposal,” says Maiorino.

On the heels of the COP21, the push for increasing renewable energy production will continue and hopefully communities will be less inclined to reject these important projects. To help mitigate this risk, however, it is good to have some tips and strategies up our sleeves ensuring the successful support and approval of many such projects to come.