A PEOPLE’S ORIENTATION TO A REGENERATIVE ECONOMY

ENERGY DEMOCRACY When the power goes out due to storms, wildfires, or grid failures, private utilities, and energy companies get bailed out and the people get shut-off. The lack of community control and governance of our energy systems has created one of the most extractive systems in our society. Our energy system has polluted our communities, fueled our climate crisis, and concentrated wealth in the hands of corporate executives, while nearly one-third of families struggle to pay their energy bill.17 There is a different way forward. The original New Deal created pathways for energy to be a public good, yet purposely neglected to center racial equity and justice in that effort. We can learn from this and position communities to govern their energy decisions. Collectively, we can reprioritize how we create, use, and distribute clean, renewable energy—without nuclear—in order to power our Regenerative Economy.

17 U.S. Energy Information Administration.

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