Metro Madness: AEG DMV 23Q4 Task Force Successfully Launches Ride for the Region Initiative

Author: Mariana Chissell, AEG Junior Fellow, Advanced Energy Group

On April 1, 2024, the Advanced Energy Group (AEG) DMV 23Q4 Mobility & Clean Transportation Task Force launched The DMV Ride for the Region Challenge. The challenge, inspired by the competitive spirit of March Madness, encouraged employers to promote public transit use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area.  

Challenge participants include Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), The George Washington University, American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Gannett-Fleming, Sierra Club, American University, George Mason University, and Kimley Horn DC; the overall tournament resulted in an impressive 846.6 kg CO2 emissions reduction. Regarding the collective effort, Mobolade Olawale from The George Washington University, commented, “the team led with energy, optimism, and a can-do spirit that shows the project’s potential to spark long-term positive change in various other regions.” 

Congratulations to APTA for winning the tournament! 

Above: Ride for the Region final results

The challenge was established as an outcome of the November 8 2023 AEG DMV Stakeholder Challenge on Mobility & Clean Transportation. This event convened over 40 public and private leaders who identified critical obstacles to achieving regional climate goals. The consensus was to prioritize a mode shift to public transit as a primary strategy for reducing emissions. 

Above: Caitlin Rogger, Deputy Executive Director, Greater Greater Washington, provides the selected critical obstacle that inspired the Ride for the Region Initiative. 

Short-term goals included developing the framework for the challenge and conducting outreach to various organizations, while long-term goals focused on securing sustainability pledges and hosting ridership challenges.

Key members of the task force include Daniel Sheehan from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Kate Roetzer and Diane Sanchez from WMATA, and insights from Dennis Morgan’s Harlem CoLab at Columbia University. Their collective efforts have shaped the challenge to not only increase transit ridership but also promote a sustainable transportation shift in the long term.

Above: Task Force volunteers committed to overseeing Ride for the Region initiative

The challenge leveraged the incenTrip app to track and log participant transit trips. By fostering friendly competition, the challenge produced significant engagement from regional employers from universities, non-profits, and public and private sectors throughout the DMV. 

This initiative is crucial as the transportation sector accounts for nearly 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in the DMV area. Increasing public transit use directly contributes to emission reductions and supports cleaner air and healthier communities

The challenge is set to continue with more organizations expected to join and pledge their commitment to sustainable transit. Future ridership competitions will be aligned with significant events like Earth Month to maximize participation and awareness. The ongoing collaboration with regional stakeholders aims to develop marketing and communication strategies to further boost participation and enthusiasm for public transit. 

For more information, visit the Ride for the Region webpage.

Equity in Action: Eversource and Verizon connect with Riley House for Seniors

Author: Mariana Chissell, AEG Junior Fellow, Advanced Energy Group

On June 14, 2023, members representing the AEG Boston 22Q3 Grid Modernization Task Force convened at Riley House in Hyde Park to showcase Equity in Action along with other energy efficiency partners. The event made significant progress towards fostering partnerships to enhance energy efficiency in Hyde Park, a largely disadvantaged, minority community. 

Above: Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) headlines Riley House event. Read the full article here. 

During the event, representatives from Eversource and Verizon committed to improving the lives of seniors at Riley House. Eversource educated community members on energy efficiency offers and available programs that aid in managing energy bills, while Verizon shared information regarding discounted internet access to eligible communities. 

The Riley House initiative by Eversource, Verizon, and others advances the 22Q3 Task Force’s efforts to overcome the selected obstacle of: “Enabling flexible load management among harder-to-reach populations” by prioritizing communities in need with respect to equitable grid modernization. This obstacle was delivered by Brandy Chambers, Manager, Energy Efficiency Regulatory & Planning, Eversource.

Above: ABCD captures Eversource engagement at Riley House. Watch the full video here. 

Ultimately, the event's impact extends beyond technological advancements; it underscores a commitment to energy equity and support for vulnerable populations, aligning with broader federal initiatives. 

The 22Q3 Boston Task Force's collaboration with energy partners has not only improved the living conditions for senior residents at Riley House but also set a precedent for future initiatives aimed at achieving energy equity in underserved communities.

Changing the Narrative: Addressing “Worst-Performing Circuits” in North Lawndale, Chicago

Author: Mariana Chissell, AEG Junior Fellow, Advanced Energy Group

On August 10 2023, 70 utility leaders, government officials, solution providers, owner/operators, and community representatives convened at Holland & Knight offices to determine critical challenges to grid modernization in Chicagoland. Participants ultimately agreed that “addressing reliability challenges for Worst Performing Circuits at the grid edge with a priority on equity and community engagement” was the most critical obstacle to be addressed within 12 months. 

Above: Grant McEachran, Regulatory Affairs Director, S&C Electric Company presents the selected critical obstacle. 

A volunteer Task Force was established as an outcome of the challenge and committed to a 90-day goal of defining the “worst-performing” circuits with focus on North Lawndale. In 12 months, the Task Force aims to identify tools to measure load growth and impact on worst-performing circuits, and plan for the advocacy process to propose this metric. The North Lawndale community has been a focal point for energy justice initiatives and was identified as a “worst-performing” circuit, which is defined by high numbers of outages. 

Regarding these circuits, Jonathan McGee, Senior Consultant of Economic Development for Baker Tilly stated, “It is imperative that we address the worst performing-circuits in the city because many of those circuits dovetail with impoverished transportation and economic deserts in the city, only exacerbating inequity and the racial wealth gap.”

Since the workshop, Task Force members aligned on submitting an application for the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) Grant which supports industry leaders who are equitably growing the clean energy workforce through energy efficiency projects in low-income communities. 

The Task Force also partnered with North Lawndale community members such as The Will Group, North Lawndale Employment Network , and University of Illinois Chicago to ensure that their actions are grounded in community support. Community involvement is critical; Mark Petri, Grid Security and Resilience Lead from Argonne National Labs, emphasized, “If we didn’t have these interactions with AEG and these local communities, we might be working on problems that don’t really need fixing.”

Above: AEG highlights a site visit of The Will Group in North Lawndale. Watch the full video here. 

The Task Force collected data and metrics from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Environmental Justice (EJ) Screen, and Argonne National Laboratory 's  Geospatial Energy Mapper (GEM) to display the interaction between health, economic, and social factors surrounding energy justice in North Lawndale in an interactive story map. The visuals simplify complex data and provide transparency in ongoing energy projects. This approach can be replicated in similar areas, enhancing community engagement but also supporting data-driven decision-making, ensuring that solutions are tailored to the specific needs of the residents. Visit the Task Force 90 sprint report and interactive map here.  

By integrating story map data with technical details on grid resiliency and worst-performing circuits, the task force aims to address North Lawndale's infrastructure needs, streamline grant applications, and identify similar communities in Chicagoland for future energy justice and grid modernization efforts. 

Swarthmore Black Alumni Network (SBAN) 2024 Equity Action Challenge

On Saturday, June 1, 2024, SBAN hosted an interactive dialogue to inspire meaningful, measureable, collaborative action among SBAN members and the greater Swarthmore community regarding equity. The following is a summary of the key points discussion and notable points of consensus. 

When asked, the concept of equity is extremely important and urgent to those who participated in this conversation (4.6 out of 5).  When asked why, participants shared the following: 

Regarding an issue the group clearly considers urgent and important (4.6 out of 5), twenty SBAN Town Hall participants expressed a strong dissatisfaction with the pace of progress in solving for equity (1.8 out of 5).

This brings up some questions worth discussion as SBAN: 

1. Why is there not greater progress on solving for equity?

2. If we take ownership of our dissatisfaction as SBAN, what impact is possible? 

3. Is it worth the effort, collectively as SBAN, and as an individual?

To address these questions, I would like to share a few insights and convictions I have accumulated developing and leading a stakeholder mobilization platform that enables leaders to overcome obstacles at the intersection of climate, health, energy and equity commitments made by large US cities, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

Forget about equity and focus on inequity. 

Inequity is asymmetric human suffering. Inequity can be mapped and measured which means it can be addressed, yet it is not; in fact, inequity continues to grow. Inequity is systemic exploitation enshrined in physical and social infrastructure. 

Don’t bring flip flops to win a marathon, bring cleats.

There are two options to lead systemic change - either in reaction to great tragedy (ie COVID) or proactively as a high performance team sport. Systemic change regarding equity requires stakeholder mobilization based on focus, measurable progress and inclusive outcomes that inspire the will to win.  As Americans, we love to play to win, especially if the game is about greatest measurable progress against all possible odds in 15 minute intervals. More than 70% of Americans identify as football fans. This year, the NFL holds the top 1, 2 and 3 spots for television programming in the US. Unity is spelled N-F-L in US. While the childhood communities of many, NFL players will experience greater and greater asymmetric suffering, the NFL has committed to double its annual revenue to over 30 billion in the next 6 years. 

Given the power of winning, how do we, as SBAN, play to win at what matters most?

1. Define the win. Establish SBAN’s credo of winning on inequity. 

2. Make it measurable with the right North Star metrics.

3. Call out geographic locations based on urgency and need to ground our efforts.

4. Establish a game clock. For example -  12 months with four 90 day quarters. 

5. Give winning currency. Reward those who get on the field and play to win effectively.

Per the graphic below, there are several aspects of asymmetric suffering that inspire our community to action. In the next 12 months which aspect would mobilize the greatest number of us to collective action? 

Without clear and compelling success metrics to validate progress and needed (vs prescribed or assumed impact) we will not have sufficient motivation to get on the field as a team of change makers. Below are some of the suggested metrics participants shared during our session that could inspire us to action:

> Rate of defaults on debt

> # of college admission among Black students  

> Debt to income ratio

> # of homeless

> # below the poverty line

> Per capita travel costs

> # and size of saving accounts year over year

> # of hospitalizations 

For examples of successful, motivating metrics think back to COVID.  What metrics best inspired collective and individual action? What metrics occupied the front page of the NYT? 
Inequity can be measured and mapped. Inequity is community based. Solving for inequity is a commitment to localized, needed relief validated by those suffering. Which led to our last question. Where would you choose to show a definitive win on inequity within 12 months?

Chester was the most suggested specific location where SBAN should focus on delivering a win on inequity within 12 months which led to a dialogue on the pros and cons of prioritizing Chester. Tim Harrison pointed out that picking a location, whether Chester or elsewhere, is a decision to listen and earn the trust of the community to ensure any efforts are welcome and aligned with true needs.  

Where do we go from here?

On September 16, 2024, either in the afternoon or evening, we invite interested SBAN members and allies to a next steps call to align on the following:

1. What specific aspect of inequity should we commit to make greatest measurable progress within 12 months, prior to the SBAN 25 Town Hall?

2. Where specifically will we focus to make this impact?

3. What will be our metric of progress?

“I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” - Michael Jordan

Imagine if SBAN, based on our efforts playing to win in 12 month timeframes, developed the Equity Action League composed of similar Black Alumni organizations and networks challenging one another to win at what matters most.

- HG Chissell