Date of Award

Summer 8-31-2025

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Ecology and Environmental Sciences

First Committee Advisor

Sharon J.W. Klein

Second Committee Member

Caroline Noblet

Third Committee Member

Cindy Isenhour

Abstract

The clean energy transition will only be successful if it lifts up communities that have historically been ignored in energy decision making. To understand how state and regional level organizations can meet this challenge, this thesis analyzes Local Energy Action Networks (LEANs), coalitions that connect town energy committees, tribal governments, and grassroots groups to spur community-led renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Through an energy justice lens, the study explores four questions: (1) How do LEANs design their work to reach underserved communities? (2) What barriers and breakthroughs characterize their work? (3) How do social, cultural, and economic contexts affect engagement strategies? and (4) How do networks differ across regions in the U.S. in governance structure, outreach model, financing, and projects? The methods include a national examination of 75 potential LEANs, a systematic review of twenty years of literature, and 30 semi-structured interviews with network leaders. Each of the organizations were compared using seven dimensions of performance that weigh community engagement, technical and financial support, and inclusion. The findings affirmed three LEAN design choices that were strongly linked to performance: 1) a clear governance structure; 2) "layered engagement" comprising a statewide summit and hyper-local peer circles; and 3) equity-oriented services, including dedicated technical support and culturally trusted intermediaries. Ongoing barriers included chronic underfunding, volunteer burnout, and dispersed systemic mistrust of external efforts, although the last barrier seemed to lessen when LEANs co-created projects with local partners. The comparative analysis also identified two archetypes as a whole: established networks found in New England, which have rich stores of volunteer capacity but are donor fatigued, and the more recently formed networks in the Western States, which have much more agile access to funding but are still working to build community trust. Overall, the findings suggest that expanding just energy transitions relates less to finding and creating new technologies and relates more to fostering the social and organizational structures that LEANs can design and tap into. Offering a picture of LEAN governance, outreach, and impacts, the thesis offers both categorization and a rubric that organizations and communities can customize and adopt. It makes an important contribution to the community-energy literature and maps practical ways to embed equity, trust, and local agency in the heart of the U.S.'s low-carbon future.

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