Greetings RE-AMPers!

In this issue:

• Iowa’s solar campaign is helping their state table build power over the long term. Read more about it here and catch a member interview with Nathan Shepherd, Iowa State Table Coordinator here.
• Meet the newest RE-AMP staff member Robin Wagner, RE-AMP Administrative Associate
• Have you marked your calendar for the RE-AMP Annual Meeting: Empowering the Midwest Climate Movement
• Catch an update in the Network News Section! Registration opens May 1st.
• Thank you again for providing feedback on the proposed changes to the Network. Check out the results here!
• We are excited to launch Action Teams in late spring 2017!  Read more about it here.
• Join the People’s Climate March!
• Check out what’s happening around the RE-AMP Network in the Events section
• Of course check out some oldies but goodies in From the Archives

Feature Stories

Member Interview: Nathan Shepherd, Iowa State Table Coordinator

I had the pleasure of catching up with Nathan to hear more about his role at the state table and how the table and it’s distributed solar campaign are working together to build power in Iowa. Read more from Nathan below and catch the update from the Iowa State Table in the Campaign and State Table section.- Sarah Ann Shanahan, RE-AMP Community Manager

Read Nathan’s full interview here and read more from the Iowa State Table here.

RE-AMP is thrilled to welcome Robin Wagner to the RE-AMP team!  Robin will be bringing her vast skillset to provide the Network with high caliber administrative support. She currently works for 1000 Friends of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Besides administrative duties, Robin will also be helping with our monthly newsletter and managing the Commons. Please take a moment to welcome Robin when you meet her!

Read more from Robin here.

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Network News

2017 Annual Meeting Update

Mark your calendar for the 2017 RE-AMP Annual Meeting: Empowering the Midwest Climate Movement, July 11-13.

Registration opens May 1!

 

Annual Meeting Update

– by Susan Guy, Co-Chair of Annual Meeting Planning committee

Here are three reasons why you should plan to attend this year’s Annual Meeting:

1. Network – It’s a chance to meet and talk with old friends and make new ones, the very reason to be a network! The Annual Meeting is a perfect venue to catch up with your Midwestern colleagues and their work. It’s a member favorite!
2. Strategize – Our work is tough, but when things get tough, the tough get going! This Annual Meeting is about empowering the Midwest climate movement by using our updated shared analysis to chart our path to 80% reduction by 2020. You don’t want to miss it.
3. Learn – Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a new staff member, there’s something for everyone to learn or sharpen their skills set. Besides, we need your expertise to feed back into our shared analysis to ensure it’s as useful and relevant as possible. Our Network is made stronger when members participate!

Full member organizations are expected to send at least one representative to the Annual Meeting, but all member organizations are encouraged to send one or more representatives.

Registration opens May 1, 2017

We look forward to seeing you at Loyola University Water Tower Campus, Chicago in July!  

Note: This is a busy time in Chicago – there are multiple events happening at the same time as the RE-AMP Annual Meeting in downtown Chicago.  We have negotiated with Loyola University to hold a limited number of rooms for RE-AMP attendees, but once those rooms are booked, attendees will need to find lodging off campus. Register early and secure lodging right away!

Here’s a sneak peak at the programming for this year’s event.

RE-AMP 2017 Annual Meeting: Empowering the Midwest Climate Movement

Goals:

1. Discuss a path forward for the Midwest climate movement
2. Help to develop and shape the systems understanding and Action Teams that will shape the future collaboration of the RE-AMP Network
3. Build your skills and learn
4. Network with old friends and make new connections

Day One – Tuesday July 11: What do we know today?
The RE-AMP Network is grounded in systems thinking. In fact, our original 2004 shared analysis helped shaped everything from our identity to the way we were structured. A lot has changed since then so we’ll spend the first day of the Annual Meeting gaining an understanding of our updated shared analysis and what it means for our 2050 goals.

Day Two – Wednesday July 12:  What are the Opportunities to Move Forward Together?
While day one is aimed at getting a shared understanding of the big picture, day two will be space for us to discuss what is needed in the coming two to four years for equitable deep decarbonization by 2050.  There will significant time for open space discussions where Action Teams may potentially form.

Day Three – Thursday July 13: Launching into Action

With the assistance of the Organizing Hub we’ll prepare members to launch into action and provide some skills building workshops for you to sharpen your own skills. Sessions include communications and online organizing strategies, campaign planning, and administering an equitable analysis. We will also learn about work between social scientists and advocates via the Organizing Hub’s Peer Learning Circle with the support of the Climate Advocacy Lab.

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Results from the Network Survey on Proposed Changes

Thank you again to all of our members organizations who responded to the Network wide survey on proposed changes for the RE-AMP Network. We had a great response rate!  Here is what you said:

Based on your responses to the survey, the RE-AMP Steering Committee:

• Approved the Action Team proposal, clearing the way for Action Teams to begin launching in late spring 2017!
• Approved a new set of bylaws for the Network, which includes a process for Steering Committee elections.  The elections process will begin soon: The Nominations Committee will begin asking members to declare their candidacy in late April and elections will run June 29 – July 12, 2017.
• Will consider how to best integrate equity considerations into the next version of our systems analysis.
• Will consider formally adopting the Deep Decarbonization framework as we update our systems analysis.

The survey did not reveal a clear path forward on updating our North Star goal.  While many respondents thought we should make our emission reduction goal more ambitious, nearly equal numbers felt the emission reduction goal should not be updated at all.  The Steering Committee will further explore this in the coming months.

Congrats to our winners from the random draw of respondents! Enjoy your prizes!

• Wisconsin Interfaith Power & Light
• Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice
• Engage Michigan
• Illinois Solar Energy Association
• Cool Choices
• Souladarity
• RENEW Wisconsin
• Great Plains Institute
• Sierra Club Northstar Chapter
• Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy

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Action teams

As noted above, the Steering Committee approved a proposal to move forward on the development of Action Teams! Now comes the work of operationalizing them and as we do you’ll get more information about them. In the meantime here’s some of the thinking around action teams.

A RE-AMP Action Team is a diverse group of people collaborating to solve a problem within the framework of the RE-AMP systems analysis in an equitable way.

Action Teams will:

•     Respond to a problem or opportunity that is identified through our shared systems analysis
•     Be a collaborative effort
•     Propose a solution to the identified problem
•     Create excellent plans for action
•     Commit to sharing what they’ve learned with the Network

Our intention behind Action Teams are that they:

•     Are outcome oriented
•     Help build capacity or support member capacity
•     Are a structure to allow groups of people to come together around discrete pieces of work.
•     Help enrich our shared systems analysis
•     Include individuals or communities who are most impacted by work
•     Are not permanent

Level 1 Action teams
Level one Action Teams would have a low bar to get established.  Creation of a level one Action Team would come with the expectation that they will share their learning with the wider Network through an agreed upon method (e.g. Annual Meeting session, webinar, conference call, written resources, etc.)

Interested groups complete a one page application to become a Level One Action Team.  Applications will be available on the RE-AMP Commons beginning in May 2017. Applications to become a Level One Action Team are considered on a rolling basis.  

Level 2 Action teams
Applications to become a Level Two Action Team are considered on a quarterly basis by the Action Team Committee. Applications for becoming a Level Two Action Team will be brief (approximately two pages) and available on the RE-AMP Commons. A budget must accompany the application. Action Teams must have a fiscal sponsor within the team that receives the grant and manages any regranting.

Level 3 Action Teams
After completing deliverables promised of them, Level Two Action Teams can apply for Level Three support, which would involve RE-AMP engaging with our funding partners to try to identify aligned funding for the work described by the Action Team.   Level Two Action Teams wishing to become Level Three Action Teams must complete a brief application that includes a summary of the work completed by the Action Team.  The application would be reviewed by staff, staff would make a recommendation to the Action Team Committee.  Applications would be accepted on a quarterly basis.

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Campaign and State Table Updates

Iowa Clean Energy State Table

Iowa has had its share of cloudy and rainy days in recent weeks, but the Iowa Clean Energy State Table hasn’t let that get in the way of its Solar Campaign work. Table members are organizing solar tours with legislators, keeping the heat on utilities and regulators to protect net metering, and advocating for state solar tax credits important to expansion of the solar market.

The State Table’s goal of the campaign is “to put solar on the same trajectory as wind energy so it becomes a major part of Iowa’s energy supply.  A vibrant solar market, paired with wind, will allow Iowa to successfully transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy.”

The success of the wind industry in Iowa is well-known – Iowa is the #1 state for percent of energy generated from wind – and it only continues to grow. Policy maker support for wind energy in Iowa is deep and bipartisan – something the campaign recognizes is critical for solar as well.

Solar tours effectively cultivate solar champions in the state, linking policy makers with solar projects and businesses in their districts and providing invaluable education. Most of Iowa’s 99 counties now have solar projects that use the state tax incentive (presently capped at $5 million annually). The State Table invites key legislators for tours to see firsthand the diverse constituencies that benefit from the installations, and of the importance of maintaining the tax incentives for project viability.

While climate change is an obvious and primary impetus to develop clean energy, the mere mention of it can close some minds and distract from the potential benefit that clean energy provides.  For this reason, the State Table emphasizes the economic benefits of solar over its environmental benefits, and is mindful of the messengers – for instance, recruiting agricultural producers with solar installations to share their stories during solar tours.

A primary goal of the Solar Campaign is to protect net metering and to encourage the expansion of distributed generation. State Table members have filed numerous comments with the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) to ensure continued growth in distributed solar under new net metering pilot projects by MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy. State Table members also welcomed the finalization of updated interconnection rules for solar and other renewable energy technologies, which are based on national best practices.

The Iowa Clean Energy Table is small – with only a dozen members – but is committed to broadening the coalition that supports solar, reaching out to installers and trade associations, labor, low-income advocates, consumer-owned utilities, and farm and agricultural groups, among others. Each of these constituencies, in turn, can help to influence local and state leaders to become solar champions.

Finally, the State Table is in the process of developing an ambitious clean energy power analysis project – a county-by-county GIS-based map of clean energy infrastructure in Iowa. By fully mapping the clean energy assets in Iowa, the Table believes it will be in a strong position to advocate and develop allies and champions in any legislative district representing those counties, regardless of who holds that office.

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People’s Climate March Information

Excitement is building as the Climate March in Washington DC draws near! Still trying to figure out how to get to DC and participate in the march? Read this post for the opportunities to hitch a ride to DC.

Thanks to everyone who shared information!

Ohio – Thanks Trish Demeter for sharing!

Minnesota – Thanks for sharing Abby Fenton!

Wisconsin – Thanks Cassie Steiner for sharing!

Illinois – Thanks JC Kibbey for sharing!

Michigan –  Thanks Bill Wood and Thomas Porter for sharing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We look forward to seeing your stories next month!

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Events

RE-AMP Steering Committee monthly call | April 19th

State Table Cohort Call | April 20th

Strategic Planning on the Fly | April 20th 10 a.m. | More information here.

March for Science | April 22nd | Learn more here.

People’s Climate March | April 29th | More information here.

Registration Opens for RE-AMP Annual Meeting | May 1st

Michigan State Table Retreat | May 2-4th | MSU Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corner, MI

North Dakota State Table Meeting | May 6th | Jamestown, ND

Network wide Webinar: State of State Tables | May 8th 1 p.m. | Register here

Using Solar + Battery Storage to Support Community Resilience: A Workshop for Local Energy Leaders | May 8th | Information and Registration

RE-AMP Steering Committee monthly call | May 17th

RE-AMP Annual Meeting | July 11-13th | Loyola University, Water Tower Campus

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From the Archives

People’s Climate March | March 2017 | Recording here

With two huge climate change marches happening in D.C. in April, the Organizing Hub held a webinar on how RE-AMP member organizations can get involved, either directly or with local actions in the Midwest.  On Tuesday, March 21st from 3pm to 4pm CT, Jennifer Kim, the Special Projects Coordinator for the People’s Climate March, joined us to talk about that march on April 29th and the March for Science on April 22nd and how we can use these as opportunities to engage members, supporters, and allies. The webinar focused on the goals of the events, how the organizers are building relationships with all the different types of communities they are inviting, and specific ways RE-AMP members can participate.  It was the first in a series focused on movement-building.

Clean Energy Policy Victories | March 2017 | Recording here

This webinar was to highlight and celebrate the critical clean energy legislative victories won in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio as 2016 came to a close. The webinar will explain exactly what was won in terms of clean energy policy improvements, but also what made the victories possible with a focus campaigns and coalitions and the great work done by so many RE-AMP members in these three states. We are excited and honored that the webinar will feature the following RE-AMP advocates:

• Jessica Collingsworth, Midwest Energy Policy Analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists
• James Clift, Policy Director, Michigan Environmental Council

• Rachael Belz, Executive Director, Ohio Citizen Action

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