To increase sustainability in communities, several organizations collaborated to train community leaders on microgrid systems to promote clean energy projects, such as bringing more solar panels to communities. Participants who completed all the classes and passed their assessments received a certificate from Arizona State University (ASU).
The organizations that partnered on this project were the Workforce and Talent Development with the 21st Century Energy Center through the Kern Community College District (KCCD), the Center for Strategic Policy Innovation, and the City of Bakersfield. They were able to put this course together with ASU through an iHub grant.
Kevin Daehnke, Founder and President of the Center for Strategic Policy Innovation, spoke about the benefits of taking the train-the-trainer route.
“Not only training you folks so that you understand how all this works, but this idea of, well, now you should be reaching out and training other people,” said Daehnkel.
Brianda Castro spoke about how she feels more informed about microgrids and confident talking about them.
“It was extremely beneficial and really eye-opening exactly how much I did not know about microgrids,” said Castro. “So having gone through the program, now I feel a lot more confident in describing not just how microgrids are a benefit to community and a benefit to community resiliency, but also can provide them with the technicalities of the functions, the models, and all the other ways that we can explore it, to bring it to a community and really educate them in the technicalities of a microgrid.”
Maria Romero gave recognition to her tribal ancestors and stated that this would help with building a resilient community, and noted the importance of taking care of the land.
“For me, this opportunity is a couple of things,” said Romero. “You know, resiliency, sustainability, right? And just because, at least for my people, for 600 years plus, we’ve been fighting that, colonization and resistance, and so I want to continue that. And we’re also taught to be stewards of the land, so just looking for ways to take care of mama Earth in that way.”
Romero added that she wants to take this information to see how they can apply solar to tiny homes and cob homes.
Each participant had their own way of how they want to utilize this program in their careers. Freddy Hernandez from CAPK stated he would like to see this taken to communities like Shafter or Mojave, adding that sometimes in Mojave, people are living with no electricity.
Lori Pesante, a facilitator through the 21st Century Energy Center, stated they have done work with PG&E to collect outage data and seen that the mountain communities sometimes have five-day power outages.
Castro works for the California Central Asthma Collaborative and stated that they are looking into how to make switching to solar more affordable for communities.
“Right now our energy sector is really prioritizing home decarbonization, because multiple resource studies have found that gas appliances exacerbate asthma and other respiratory illnesses, and it really worsens indoor air quality,” said Castro.
Castro stated that many homes are not equipped with proper infrastructure to make the switch in an affordable way.
“One of the biggest hurdles that we have found through this work is that our homes are not equipped, at the moment, to be able to make that transition. Especially not affordably. So, there’s a lot of state incentives to be able to do the switch, but the electrical infrastructure is just not there.”
The participants also saw room for collaboration with each other on the projects. Many of the participants have ideas of how they can partner with each other’s businesses or find a way to advocate for the community.
According to Allie Detrio with Reimagine Power, the California Energy Commission is looking at how solar projects will be funded. Detrio stated it is essential for people to get involved in the process and advised the participants to talk to their local politicians to voice support for more solar projects.
“ I think that’s really gonna be a crucial area for people to get involved in and just voicing support for microgrids and especially the communities that have been underserved,” said Detrio, adding the importance of making sure the communities are prioritized for funding.
Detrio also advised the participants to speak to their local politicians to voice support for more solar projects.
“Then at the local level, I think really politics is local, and the extent that you hear about any projects or looking to do something in your community, I think voicing support for that, at the local government level, is also really helpful. It sometimes can be easier to get involved in some local policy activities that are in your home, in your backyard, or in your neighborhood,” said Detrio.
To assist participants in implementing what they have learned, they have the opportunity to apply for a $1,000 mini-grant. Three participants will be able to get this grant.
For community members interested in being trained on microgrid systems, there will be a 90-minute training on November 12. For more information and registration details, please visit this link.
