Central Valley Community Foundation (CVCF) Clean Energy Community Benefits Planning

HR&A supported the Central Valley Community Foundation (CVCF) in its Spring Sprint to prepare a Regional Investment Plan for the Sierra San Joaquin Valley as part of California’s Jobs First initiative. The region, comprised of Fresno, Madera, Tulare, and Kings counties, is expected to generate a disproportionate share of California’s renewable energy needs and required a community benefits framework to ensure that future private investments will benefit local residents and advance equity.

CVCF brought together a diverse coalition of stakeholders and partner organizations for this effort to deliver inclusive economic development for the region grounded in equitable climate solutions. Over the course of an intense, eight-week planning process, HR&A led and facilitated working group meetings with business, civic, community, academic, and worker advocacy organizations to build toward a regional community benefits framework. HR&A developed a set of case studies to inform the workgroup meetings, specifically to demonstrate best practices to raising the bar when it comes to community benefits, as well as different mechanisms for capturing and distributing benefits.
 
HR&A collaborated with CVCF to develop the final community benefits chapter and framework for the Plan, which included developing a vision statement and principles for the region that was rooted in not only protecting historically underserved and marginalized communities from further burden and harm from future climate infrastructure investments, but also explicitly advancing reparative economic and environmental justice. The chapter introduces a new regional framework for community benefits detailing mechanisms to 1) capture community benefits by establishing minimum regional requirements to help position the right projects for the region, and 2) distribute community benefits in an equitable, inclusive manner by establishing mandatory engagement processes and maintaining community oversight.

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Read the S2J2 Investment Plan Draft