Design

Assess the Existing Stakeholder Process

Prior to launching an engagement initiative or strategy, State Energy Offices should consider assessing their approach to stakeholder engagement to help inform the goals and scope of the new approach. States can consider collecting feedback from stakeholders and community groups through surveys or one-on-one conversations and holding conversations with different program teams across the office to understand any internal barriers and assess which strategies have been most effective. (This exercise can also help State Energy Offices identify opportunities to reduce stakeholder fatigue going forward.)

State Energy Offices can also utilize the Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership, a tool developed by Rosa Gonzalez of Facilitating Power, to evaluate the state’s existing relationship with communities and identify ways to deepen engagement where possible. The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership (“the Spectrum”) outlines progressively deeper levels of engagement: from informing, consulting, and involving communities to collaborating with and deferring to communities. (See an image of the Spectrum below.)¹ By offering a wide array of options and tangible strategies, the Spectrum can provide a guiding framework and tool for ongoing evaluation as State Energy Offices look to refine their engagement strategies over time.

Develop Goals

State Energy Offices can use the outcomes of the assessment to inform goal setting for future engagements. States may also need to consider alignment with broader office goals and compliance with state legislative requirements and/or federal funding requirements. Finally, State Energy Offices may want to build in flexibility when developing goals to allow for changes in response to community needs.

The motivation and goals developed for the state example initiatives are summarized in the table below:

State	Initiative	Assessment Process/Motivation	Goal(s)
New York	Energy Equity Collaborative	New York State’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act requires at least 35% of the benefits of climate investments be directed towards disadvantaged communities.2 The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and other entities working to implement the Climate Act recognized a need for greater procedural equity to improve access to these benefits for disadvantaged communities and included several recommendations in the Scoping Plan aimed at making engagement and program design processes more inclusive. The Energy Equity Collaborative, as a component of NYSERDA’s broader climate equity strategy, grew from these discussions as well as conversations with other states and exposure to the Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership.	NYSERDA established the Energy Equity Collaborative to help make engagements with community-based organizations more relationship-based and less ad hoc and transactional. The goal was to improve transparency and accountability while reducing stakeholder fatigue by creating a regular space to talk to and with communities and developing a process to compensate people for their time and insights.
Minnesota	Community Energy Collaborative	The Minnesota Department of Commerce recognized that community-based organizations (CBOs) representing underserved populations faced systemic barriers to accessing programs and participating in public processes. Utilizing the Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership, the Minnesota team realized that prior engagement strategies were more focused on informing stakeholders and did not allow for relationship-building with CBOs.	Minnesota launched the Community Energy Collaborative with the goal of creating a forum that would allow for ongoing relationship-building with CBOs and providing a mechanism for compensating CBOs for their participation.
Oregon	Community Renewable Energy Grant Program Advisory Committee	Oregon House Bill 2021 states that the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) director may establish an advisory committee, with representatives from specific groups, to inform the Community Renewable Energy Grant Program.	ODOE created the Advisory Committee to ensure the Community Renewable Energy Grant Program enables communities across Oregon to access opportunities to develop renewable energy and energy resilience projects.

Plan Scope, Timeline, and Structure

After developing goals for the stakeholder engagement initiative, State Energy Offices will need to define its scope and approximate timeline and structure, which may vary based on the goals of the stakeholder initiative. For example, the stakeholder engagement initiatives in New York and Minnesota are broad in scope and not limited to a particular timeline as they are intended to provide an ongoing forum for input on a wide array of policy and programmatic issues. In contrast, the Oregon initiative was designed to engage stakeholders on the development of a particular program was therefore time-bound.

The overall scope of the engagement may also depend on parameters such as statutory or regulatory authority or restrictions related to the source of the funding for the initiative. For example, NYSERDA chose to establish the Energy Equity Collaborative as an ongoing advisory group because the structure would provide a venue for regular engagement with under-resourced community stakeholders who have vital knowledge and experience. The creation of this venue allows for genuine dialogue that is additive and does not replace regulatory proceedings and input processes.

State Energy Offices can use the following questions to help guide decisions around the scope and timeline of a stakeholder engagement initiative:

• What types of programs, plans, or policies can stakeholders help design or provide input on?
• To what extent can stakeholders influence these efforts?
  • What aspects of the policy, program, or plan are already set in stone vs. flexible?
  • What legislative, regulatory, or other factors might enable or limit the decision-making power of stakeholders involved?
• If the initiative is intended to help shape a particular policy, program, or plan, what is the timeline involved?
  • Is there a legislative or federal funding deadline?
  • Are there opportunities for continued engagement after the policy, program, or plan has been launched or established?

Depending on the scope of the initiative, State Energy Offices will need to determine a basic structure, including whether the initiative will have a Steering or Advisory Committee to guide the process and whether it makes sense to split the group into working groups or sub-groups for more focused discussions. The structure of each state example initiative is summarized in the table below:

State	Initiative	Structure
New York	Energy Equity Collaborative	The Energy Equity Collaborative is led by a Steering Committee, which can create Working Groups. All organizations participating in the Steering Committee or Working Groups are pre-qualified contractors in NYSERDA's Disadvantaged Communities Consultant Pool. Current Working Groups include: Housing and Building Efficiency and Electrification; Workforce Development and Economic Opportunity; Energy Transition; and Engagement and Access.
Minnesota	Community Energy Collaborative	The Community Energy Collaborative is organized and facilitated by the Minnesota Department of Commerce and co-led in collaboration with the participating CBOs. The initiative is shaped through on-going engagement with CBOs from across Minnesota. Members identify priority topics and share their own expertise. The Community Energy Collaborative is a group of approximately 20 CBOs. On occasion there are topic-focused sub-group meetings, but the group largely meets as a whole.
Oregon	Community Renewable Energy Grant Program Advisory Committee	The Community Renewable Energy Grant Program Advisory Committee is chaired by the Oregon Department of Energy and includes representatives from a diverse range of organizations as outlined in the statute. Each member of the Advisory Committee serves a four-year term.

In addition to defining the scope and structure of the initiative, State Energy Offices will also need to develop a budget and identify staff and resources required to oversee and implement the engagement process. For the New York initiative, which is a long-term, ongoing engagement process, NYSERDA hired a full-time staff member to help implement or oversee the engagement process. (See the Document Library [link] for an example job description.) In Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Commerce identified a dedicated staff member to implement and oversee the process with additional staff from multiple teams contributing to on-going engagement.

Because the Oregon initiative was developed as part of a new program established by state legislation, the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) hired additional staff to work on the program, whose scope of work included support for the Advisory Committee. However, existing ODOE staff launched and ran the Advisory Committee in its early stages, including recruiting and selecting Committee members, developing the charter, and hosting initial meetings.

State Energy Offices may want to consider the following questions when developing a budget and staffing plan:

• What source(s) of funding can be used to support the engagement initiative?
• How many hours of staff time will be required to support the engagement initiative?
  • What activities will State Energy Office staff perform?
  • Is the initiative intended to be short-term or long-term?
  • Is the initiative part of a specific program? If so, can funding for the program be used to support staff work related to stakeholder engagement?
• Will your office contract with an outside organization to help facilitate or support the initiative?
• What other resources will be needed to implement the stakeholder engagement initiative?
  • Outreach and communication materials
  • In-person meeting space and supplies (if not virtual)
  • Compensation for stakeholders (if providing)
• Is your office able to compensate stakeholders for their participation? (See the Develop Compensation Mechanisms section for more details and examples from other states.)

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¹ See the report Designing Equity-Focused Stakeholder Engagement to Inform State Energy Office Programs and Policies, co-authored by NASEO, Facilitating Power, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce for a more detailed breakdown on how State Energy Offices can utilize the Spectrum of Stakeholder Engagement to Ownership and for examples of other useful stakeholder engagement tools.

² The mandate was increased to 40% with a goal of 45% investment in DACs as part of the FY2027 state budget passed in late May 2026.