Keeling Curve

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As we transition to renewable energy, we risk exacerbating wealth inequality by leaving behind communities that lack the capital, real estate, or policies that facilitate renewable energy ownership. Added to this is the growing consensus that collective action is key to fighting climate change, thus models that leverage shared decision-making, financing, and organizing should play a core role in our transition. 

After years of research by the Sustainable Economies Law Center, People Power is addressing this problem. We utilize securities exemptions for cooperatives, enabling 5.9 million California households to access the financial and environmental benefits of solar ownership.

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It is common to see renewable energy opportunities like ours fall into the hands of more affluent and privileged communities, leaving behind a population that is already disproportionately impacted by the harms of fossil fuels and inequality. This is why we have grounded the cooperative with community leaders in our own network, asking them to become founding member-owners. These 44 founding member-owners have demonstrated a commitment to energy democracy, climate justice, and economic empowerment. They are mostly women, people of color, and low-income people. 

With direction from our member-owners, People Power activates community groups to incorporate the benefits of solar energy in low-income neighborhoods and frontline communities where energy burdens are the highest. Member-owners in these communities own and control the cooperative, which centers it on the needs and vision of diverse communities. 

Furthermore, by forming as a cooperative under California law, we are obligated to conduct business for the mutual benefit of all our members. This incentivizes benefits to the members of the cooperative, who are also residents of the communities People Power serves. This is in stark contrast to the conventional incentive to extract value from an industry and provide those benefits to a handful of distant shareholders. Our bylaws also spell out legal protection for the cooperative‚ assets, ensuring that they stay under permanent community-ownership.

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