Evaluate and Iterate

Gather feedback from participants and assess progress

As State Energy Offices continue to engage stakeholders, providing regular opportunities for feedback on engagement methods can help improve outcomes and build trust, particularly for ongoing initiatives. Even if the stakeholder engagement initiative is short-term, feedback from participants can help inform future approaches. Depending on the goals of the initiative and the evaluation metrics and processes established in the Design phase [link to prior section], State Energy Offices can use a number of different tools to evaluate the effectiveness of current strategies, such as surveys, one-on-one check-in meetings with participants, and self-assessments using the Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce conducted one-on-one meetings with participants after the first year of the Community Energy Collaborative to assess progress and understand how the Collaborative should evolve in future years. These meetings not only provided an avenue for direct feedback but also allowed some of the less vocal members to share key challenges their communities are facing. For example, members conveyed specific barriers to access faced by renters in their communities as well as intersecting issues such as food insecurity. The questions Minnesota used for these one-on-one check-ins are listed below and could be adapted to fit the needs of other states’ programs.

• What are the primary barriers to energy access/efficiency in your communities? What are barriers to your work, things that you’ve seen, even previous barriers you’ve overcome.
• Program goals: What specific goals has your program set for addressing energy issues? What would you like to highlight? What metrics are you using to measure success?
• Gov’t impact: How do current policies influence/support/hinder your work? What changes would you like to see? And do you have any upcoming legislative priorities that we can support?
• Plans for next year, any other key initiatives/priorities? How do you plan to address ongoing challenges in the community?
• As we enter Phase 3: We want to begin thinking about norms and bylaws, what would you like to see reflected?
• What does collaboration in this sector look like?

Make changes based on feedback from participants

To effectively respond to stakeholders’ feedback and ensure engagement strategies are successful, State Energy Offices will need to build in flexibility and adapt based on stakeholders’ needs and input. This type of iterative approach to engagement can help State Energy Offices tailor initiatives to best meet stakeholders’ needs and preferences, which can help maximize the impact of the engagement and help both parties use their time and resources more effectively.

While the Oregon Department of Energy’s C-REP Advisory Committee was initially created to support program development, ODOE provided additional opportunities for feedback from committee members as well as participants in later rounds. For example, the agency heard from some potential applicants, including those in rural communities, that even with a grant award and initial disbursement, securing upfront funds to begin or continue a construction project was very challenging. In response, ODOE worked with the legislature to allow the program to issue a second advance disbursement for projects that had started construction. Some rural applicants also noted that the competitive scoring process could unintentionally favor larger organizations, so ODOE worked with its Advisory Committee to strengthen scoring criteria to be more equitable. The program has also continued to publish detailed guidance and support for applicants and awarded grantees covering requirements, insights, and clear reporting guidelines.