Policy Overview

The Clean Coalition’s top goal is to implement policies that accelerate the adoption of cost-effective clean local energy across the U.S.  We believe that policy innovation is the fastest and most efficient way to spur the clean energy market development and encourage healthy competition within the sector.  To achieve desirable policy outcomes, the Clean Coalition is engaged with legislative and regulatory bodies at every level of government.

At the national level, the Clean Coalition advocates for federal legislation that supports the growth of the clean energy economy.  We have held educational briefings on clean energy issues in Washington, D.C. and have worked with other organizations to promote comprehensive legislation.  Visit the Legislative Action page for details.  In regulatory affairs, we engage with Commissioners and senior staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) when their analyses and rulings affect areas of interest.  Visit the Regulatory Action page for details. 

At the state level, the Clean Coalition collaborates with legislators and coalition partners across the U.S. to help draft and advance legislation that promotes rapid renewable energy adoption.  Visit the Legislative Action page for details.  Within the regulatory arena, we monitor and participate in hearings and ruling making processes that affect clean energy adoption, particularly those that affect the Wholesale Distributed Generation market segment.  See the Regulatory Action section for details.

In both legislative and regulatory affairs, the bulk of our “hands on” work has been in California.  However, the Clean Coalition provides behind-the-scenes guidance to many state and local clean energy advocates on designing successful legislation and programs.  The Clean Coalition is creating a seven module Local CLEAN Program Guide to help local communities and utilities evaluate, design, and enact CLEAN Programs.  Download a free PDF of the Local CLEAN Program Guide here.  At the state level, we anticipate expanding our direct advocacy work beyond California in the future.  States where we are already working in some capacity include:  Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, and New York.

With all of our above activities, the Clean Coalition believes that expanding the base of clean energy supporters is important.  In an effort to enhance the above efforts, we often call upon like-minded organizations and our community of “Clean Coalition friends” to sign on to letters of support and/or to urge collective action.  To facilitate this end, we provide easy to digest information on what is happening within the sector via e-action alerts and through the “Quick Updates” section of our website.  You can also sign up for our e-Newsletter to receive monthly Clean Coalition updates via email.  (Find an archive of our past e-Newsletters by clicking here.)  If you are a local clean energy advocate in California, please visit our CLEAN California Campaign website at www.energyjobsnow.org for more information about the Campaign and to join the expanding list of Campaign partners.

The Clean Coalition is highly respected for using the latest global data and nuanced, objective analysis to provide policy designs and recommendations that maximize benefits for all constituencies: including developers, regulators, manufacturers, utilities, and ratepayers.  By promoting policies and programs that are based on detailed analyses and not on partisan positions, the Clean Coalition is successful across a multitude of policymaking forums.