EESI Recognized for Outstanding Work That You Help Make Possible!

The Street featured EESI in 30 Charities That Won’t Waste Your Money (and of course we wouldn’t)—wow! Charity Navigator, the largest evaluator of nonprofits, has given EESI a perfect score and Four Star Charity designation. Great Nonprofits also listed EESI as a Top Rated Nonprofit again for 2019! We are honored and humbled by all the recognition—and grateful to all of you who make this possible with your giving!

How did this happen?

First and foremost: we accomplish important goals. Our briefings and engagement on Capitol Hill stimulate fact-based discussions on policy making and are attended by staffers from both parties, as well as educators, energy and environment professionals, media, and members of the general public. Things are moving, even when it doesn’t make the headlines. Congress accomplished a lot on resilience last year, and just passed a $19 billion disaster aid bill. But there is still much to do to make our nation more resilient to climate change!

We provide a forum for experts and officials to educate members of Congress in an effective way—by bringing the information right to their doorstep! Shedding light on complex issues ranging from green infrastructure to the impact of federal energy efficiency programs, our forums span a wide range. Our briefings always include a robust Q&A, so no question goes unanswered. Attendees are also encouraged to stick around after the briefing for one-on-one discussions with panelists or other attendees—to make more connections!

Moreover, our federal policy work is complemented by our hands-on technical assistance to help rural electric cooperatives (co-ops) and municipal utilities (munis) innovate and embrace clean energy. EESI began working with electric cooperatives to develop innovative solutions in 2010, starting first with South Carolina’s co-ops. This led to the “Help My House” on-bill financing pilot program, which rolled out in 2011 to improve participants’ home energy efficiency and lower their energy bills. The program approved participants for loans through bill payment history rather than a traditional credit check—a key factor creating more equitable access to clean energy improvements.

EESI built on the pilot’s success to launch a national-scale project in 2014 to help bring equitable on-bill financing programs to the nearly 3,000 electric co-ops and public utilities across the country! At that time, few co-ops or munis—and few nonprofits working in energy and environmental issues—were aware of on-bill financing, or at least of these innovative models that emphasized energy savings and equity.

Since 2014, EESI has propelled a national conversation about on-bill financing programs that provide clean energy access for underserved utility customers—now there is a large ecosystem of nonprofits working with co-ops and munis on a variety of issues related to our project! EESI helped launch six programs (including one in Fort Collins, CO and a statewide one in Hawaii), with more set to launch in this calendar year. Several of our partner programs have secured loan capital from the Department of Agriculture's Rural Energy Savings Program, a zero-percent interest loan program launched in 2016. And, with our help, some programs are incorporating beneficial electrification into their on-bill programs. This cuts participants’ overall energy costs and carbon emissions, while also providing the electric utility with additional revenue.

Next: We’re dedicated to our mission. EESI was founded in 1984 by a bipartisan Congressional caucus to serve as a trusted source of credible, non-partisan information on energy and environmental problems and solutions. Addressing climate change has been at the center of everything we do since 1988.

Finally: We are a fact-based organization. You can trust that information produced and compiled by EESI is from credible sources and has been fact-checked. We are focused on doing things right, and that means producing sound material based on evidence and backed by science. We publish fact sheets, policy papers, and newsletters on the latest environmental science, technology, and policy developments that reach thousands of people globally.

EESI would like to thank our donors for making all of this possible! EESI is not funded by Congress, nor are we a membership organization. Your gift is in good hands.

 

Authors: Susan Williams and Ashley Schnakenberg