TEPRI'S SEPTEMBER 2024
NEWSLETTER
Executive Director Update
We are dynamic! Our Texas summer reached record electricity demand, and our growing, distributed, and diverse energy sector worked at full throttle to meet the challenge.
But there will be more. More load. More challenge. More weather.
And we will have to steepen and hasten our innovation trajectory to avert outage risks. Electricity is the foundation of our modern world. Our daily work, education, and healthcare rely on a functioning energy system. Energy Justice — the access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy — is the foundation for a cascade of equitable life outcomes.
At TEPRI, we are focused on addressing the energy needs of the 30 million Texans who live in poverty and the 40% of Texans who struggle to pay their energy bills. Hurricane Beryl laid bare the challenges for people who lack the resources to have options in the case of outages.
The suffering is acute. Extreme heat or cold, which many low-income people experience frequently because they can’t afford their heat or cooling at safe levels, can interfere with the basic needs of work, education, and health.
The mounting challenge has come with a growing role for TEPRI in developing and implementing strategies to improve people’s access to vital lifeblood of our modern world. In this newsletter, I am pleased to introduce three of TEPRI’s newest staff members who share our passion for people and energy. Together we will be building a network of neighborhood-based energy solutions — including resiliency hubs, community and residential solar, and streamlined sign-ups for energy efficiency, all through our continued partnership with both energy companies and community-based organizations. Over the next few years we are planning to play a pivotal role in an equitable and robust energy transition, one that is designed to support all our neighbors!
Thank you for your partnership in this critical mission. We look forward to our work together!
Warmly,
Margo Weisz
Executive Director
NEWS FROM TEPRI
Welcome To Our New Staff Members
We recently added three new staff members: Kathy Jack, Mohammad Alkhatib, and Veronique Placke. Take a moment to learn more about each of them below!
Kathy Jack
Kathy is an experienced program director and researcher, with more than twenty-five years of working in the non-profit and local government sectors to advance community health and resilience through clean energy, efficiency, and nature-based strategies. Most recently, she served as the Texas Climate Program Director for The Nature Conservancy, where she led strategies to advance natural infrastructure and a low-impact and equitable renewable energy transition. Kathy joins TEPRI to serve as Director of Energy Programs, where she will manage several energy programs in South Texas and across the state, including TEPRI’s Solar For All partnerships.
Why did you want to join the TEPRI team?
I have worked for many years in the public and non-profit sectors to advance clean energy, efficiency, and innovative conservation strategies, and I have a particular training and focus on addressing barriers to distributed solar energy. But my real passion and purpose is creating solutions that meaningfully improve people’s lives. TEPRI is a leader in demonstrating and scaling real-world solutions to address the energy burden facing millions of Texan households and I am thrilled to join this team!
What do you see as the most important trends in our energy landscape?
Mohammad Alkhatib
Mo is passionate about TEPRI’s mission to make green energy accessible and affordable for low-income households. His previous work with a multinational NGO in humanitarian aid has deepened his commitment to advancing equitable energy solutions for underserved communities.
Why did you want to join the TEPRI team?
Veronique Placke
problem-solving skills, Veronique is passionate about building relationships and driving impactful change in the energy sector, with a deep commitment to ensuring access to energy for all.
Why did you want to join the TEPRI team?
I was drawn to TEPRI because of its dedication to bringing vital information to light through the community voices survey, extensive collaborations with various stakeholders, and the innovative pilots that address the crucial niche in the Texas energy landscape. I am passionate about contributing to meaningful work that focuses on community-centered efforts, a priority that has always been important in my career. Joining TEPRI offers an exciting opportunity to help shape a prosperous and resilient energy future for Texas while gaining invaluable insights into the complexities of the energy sector. Being part of this innovative, forward-thinking team allows me to engage in real projects that make a tangible difference.
Easier Energy Efficiency Eligibility for Texas Tool Has Expanded
Our Easier Energy Efficiency Eligibility for Texas (E4-TX) platform, a geo-eligibility tool that streamlines the process for low-income households to sign up for energy programs, has expanded. We are pleased to announce that TNMP and CenterPoint have agreed to join Oncor in utilizing the tool and are supporting the development of version 2.0.
TThe tool is designed to identify customers and neighborhoods that qualify for low-income energy efficiency programs based on the U.S. Census tracts, negating the need for households to provide personal income information, a leading barrier to participation.
A special thank you to Oncor and Garry Jones for your support and leadership in piloting the tool!
Contact us at margo@tepri.org if you have an interest in subscribing to our tool for your work to more easily identify LMI households for your program.
Energy Education in Rio Grande Valley
TEPRI is working with our community partner, Proyecto Azteca, in the Rio Grande Valley to help households plan and understand their energy options. In May, Proyecto Azteca launched “Empower and Defend: Scam Awareness for Low-Income Homeowners in South Texas.” This new program aims to educate households about the value of energy efficiency and weatherization, enhance solar energy literacy, and protect vulnerable homeowners from scams.
With TEPRI serving as partner and presenter, the initiative offers in-depth workshops on solar technologies, scam prevention, weatherization, and available support programs. Each workshop aims to build confidence among South Texas homeowners, ensuring they have the skills to navigate the complexities of their energy bills and options and the insight to avoid deceptive business practices.
TEPRI ACROSS TEXAS
Arup Energy Audit of Mt. Vernon Baptist Church
TEPRI has been working with South Union CDC and Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) to develop virtual power plants and resilience hubs across the Sunnyside neighborhood in Houston. As part of the work, TEPRI contacted Arup to perform an energy audit on Mt. Vernon Baptist Church. Arup and TEPRI performed a site walk-through to determine the structural and electrical conditions of the building, evaluate siting options for PV and storage, and identify energy conservation upgrades that would help optimize solar output.
Austin Energy Generation Plan Community Workshop
Austin Energy invited TEPRI to participate in four workshops to collect community input for their Resource Generation Plan. The third workshop asked community members to prioritize affordability, reliability, and environmental sustainability with the caveat that there are limited resources to tackle all three sufficiently. Major takeaways from the discussion included that affordability, reliability, and environmental sustainability are deeply intertwined and that equity was a noticeably missing value. Austin Energy presented on TEPRI’s Community Voices in Energy Survey as it relates to the Austin area and conducted a second conversation to collect feedback on how community members would like to see equity included in the plan
Energy Opportunity Speaker Series June 13 Event Recap
This summer TEPRI hosted some of the most dynamic thinkers in energy equity at our Energy Opportunity Speakers Series in-person event titled “Dynamic Innovation in Energy Efficiency” at the University of Houston.
Dr. Robert D. Bullard provided insight into the historic need for equitable clean energy investments to support grid modernization and resilience for disadvantaged communities. Donnel Baird shared BlocPower’s approach to building electrification around how communities in Texas can utilize it to address the energy challenges low-income Texans face. TEPRI moderated a panel discussion featuring Dr. Robert D. Bullard, Donnel Baird, and Huey German-Wilson of the Northeast Houston Redevelopment Council.
How Does South Texas Feel About Solar?
This past spring, TEPRI surveyed 348 South Texas households about their experiences with and perceptions of solar energy to better understand how residents in the region feel about rooftop solar, whether they’ve had interactions with representatives of solar companies, and what concerns they might have about solar in general, including panel affordability and the barriers to adoption of solar energy. The survey helped highlight opportunities to improve how South Texas residents interact with the solar industry to ensure the best outcomes for their households, which will be critical as we work with the Brownsville Public Utility Board (BPUB) to implement community solar and with DreamBuild to install affordable solar on homes.
Virtual Power Plant Texas Conference
TEPRI joined with other virtual power plant (VPP) experts to discuss the latest developments in advancing VPP technology as a means to provide more affordability and reliable energy. Tiffany Wu participated in two panels to discuss policy gaps and social equity. Some of her key points included:
- While policy may lag in the creation of standards, project developers can move forward toward defining best practices and potential use cases through the bidding process and contracts with vendors and installers
- While not all owners of solar and storage will want to participate in virtual power plant programs, the revenues generated from these programs will be key to helping low-income communities afford the assets where high upfront costs had previously been a barrier.
Heatwise Policy Partnership Summit
EPRI was invited to participate in the inaugural Heatwise Policy Partnership Summit hosted by the Nicholas Institute at Duke University. Tiffany joined the summit with experts across the country representing community-based organizers, healthcare workers, utilities, financial and insurance companies, federal and state officials, and climate researchers.
SPEER Policy + Industry Workshop
Tiffany will be speaking at SPEER’s Industry + Policy Workshop on September 20th. She will be discussing distributed energy resources and virtual power plant expansion as well as policies that can support further growth along with Jackson Parell, Base Power Company, and Arushi Sharma Frank, Luminary Strategies.
Solar For All Workshop
TEPRI Executive Director Margo Weisz will be traveling to Montana September 16-20 as part of a Solar For All planning workshop sponsored by the Energy Foundation and the Arthur Blank Foundation.
Margo will be presenting innovative strategies to leverage the funds and incorporate new technologies into the projects. The discussion focuses on how to optimize Solar For All funds in disadvantaged communities.
IN THE NEWS
Meanings Behind the Hidden Fees on Your Texas Electricity Bill
Andrew was recently interviewed by Faith Foushee to discuss ways you can save on your electric bill by addressing hidden fees.
Heidi Glaus Show (46:25)
NPR’s Marketplace
Margo joined NPR’s Marketplace to provide input for their report on the growth of demand for generators in Texas following recent winter storms.
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