Curious how Sonoma Clean Power plans to implement and achieve our strategic plans? We invite you to review our Strategic Action Plan below.
We are committed to offering our customers clean energy solutions that enhance quality of life while helping to solve climate change. We are incorporating the Framework into our program work and internal management practices and developing goals for better equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Sonoma Clean Power's commitment to our community is reflected in our Community Needs Assessments. We've been actively assessing the needs of our community in three key areas: transportation & mobility, residential energy use & resiliency, and agricultural energy use. We'll also kick off a commercial energy use & resiliency study later this year. Our focus remains on making informed decisions in program development, with a particular emphasis on Environmental Social Justice communities, low-income, and underserved populations.
Our community engagement process aims to understand the values, needs, and priorities of SCP's communities to shape future program offerings effectively. To accomplish this, SCP has implemented a range of engagement strategies, which are detailed below. We've partnered with Tierra Resources Consulting for agricultural matters, Sacramento Municipal Utility District for the residential & commercial interests, and EVNoire for transportation & mobility.
At Sonoma Clean Power, we believe in the power of local voices. With that in mind, we conducted interviews to understand the needs and challenges within our service area.
Between March and May 2023, we engaged in discussion with 26 agricultural customers in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. These interviews included various sectors such as dairy, wine, livestock, crops, cannabis, and fruit to better understand their priorities, needs, and challenges within the community.
In March 2023, our second round of interviews focused on the residential communities we serve. Through in-depth conversations with contractors and community-based organizations, we uncovered invaluable insights into the needs of the communities they support. We reached out to 35 contractors and over 30 community-based organizations, ensuring representation across service types and geographical regions to ensure a diverse range of voices. We completed 10 interviews with community-based organization representatives and seven interviews with contractors, providing a broad understanding of the communities and organizations we aim to support.
Between May and August 2023, our third round of interviews focused on transportation and mobility, examining the priorities, needs, and challenges facing our communities. We reached out to numerous community organizations within our service area and conducted eight insightful interviews with key informants. These interviews have provided us with valuable perspectives on how we can better address transportation-related issues in our region.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to our community-based organization partners and community leaders for sharing their valuable feedback.
We value direct input from our customers, which is why we are conducting surveys.
We conducted a survey of agricultural customers between May and June 2023 to gain a deeper understanding of business challenges, program participation, and their familiarity with SCP.
In September 2023, we surveyed a sample of residential customers, offering the survey in both English and Spanish. To ensure accessibility for all, we're planning to partner with local community groups to help customers without internet access, computers, or mobile phones complete surveys in person.
Additionally, in the upcoming fall of 2023, SCP will launch a survey to provide a territory-wide perspective on community needs in transportation & mobility.
SCP is partnering with community-based organizations, NAACP Santa Rosa – Sonoma County and North Bay Electric Auto Association, to host focus group discussions on transportation burdens. The sessions bring together community leaders to discuss transportation, particularly its impact on Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), low-income, rural, and pollution-burdened communities.
A big thank you to our community-based organization partners and community members who took the time to share feedback at the listening sessions!
Following the completion of the community needs assessments, SCP staff plan to use the survey results, along with interview summaries and recommendations, to guide our program design.
