Decision Support for Local Governments and Communities

NREL provides decision support, technical assistance, and resources to help U.S. local governments and local communities plan for and implement clean energy solutions.

Technical Assistance

NREL offers technical expertise to help local governments navigate the complexities of implementing or transitioning to clean energy.

Clean Cities and Communities

Clean Energy to Communities

Communities Local Energy Action Program

Energy Improvements in Rural and Remote Areas

Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project

Solar Energy Innovation Network

Waste-to-Energy Technical Assistance

NREL previously provided technical assistance for solar power at universities and for clean energy on mine lands.

Explore all technical assistance opportunities.

Resources and Tools for Projects

NREL develops and provides resources and tools to help local governments navigate clean energy projects.

State and Local Planning for Energy Platform

This online platform supports data-driven state and local energy and decarbonization planning.

Community Solar

This distributed solar energy deployment model allows customers to buy or lease part of a larger, off-site shared solar photovoltaic system.

Solar Decision Support for Local Governments

NREL offers decision support and resources to local governments seeking to go solar.

Accelerating Clean Energy at Scale

When technical assistance is unavailable through government programs, NREL partners with communities directly to translate their clean energy ambitions into actions.

Explore our full list of data and tools.

Energy Justice Support and Solutions

Local communities may not always mean city or county jurisdictional geographic boundaries. A community can mean those who share common values, goals, or socio-economic traits. NREL works with a variety of communities, including disadvantaged, low-income, remote, urban, and rural communities to support clean, accessible, affordable, resilient local energy systems.

NREL prioritizes equity and energy justice in every step of the clean energy process, from planning to implementation. Explore more about NREL's energy justice work.