Brought to you by IREC and ICMA, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy.
About Energy Ready
Energy Ready consists of three designation programs for local governments: Charging Smart Distributed Wind Smart, and SolSmart. Each program awards designations to communities that successfully implement criteria to reduce unintended barriers to clean energy development.
Municipalities play a critical role in shaping the adoption of energy technologies. Local governments can impact the options available to their residents, the cost of these technologies, and the timeline for implementation.
Communities that enroll in Energy Ready receive hands-on expert support, tailored to their local area, at no cost. Participating jurisdictions can choose from a variety of actions to meet designation requirements. This personalized approach ensures that each community can take a path that aligns with residents’ needs and priorities.
Whatever your local priorities—from unlocking clean energy investment and economic growth, to advancing energy independence and resilience, to ensuring energy development aligns with your community’s priorities—the Energy Ready suite of programs can help!
Frequently Asked Questions
Getting started is easy. Complete this interest form, including your contact info and the technologies for which your community is interested in receiving technical assistance. A member of our team will get in touch to learn more about your community’s goals and guide you to the next phase of the program.
There are myriad benefits to pursuing a designation from one or more of the programs in the Energy Ready suite, including access to vetted best practices and hands-on support at no cost to your community. Upon achieving designation, you’ll also receive national recognition for the steps your community has taken to better manage clean energy growth.
We know that every community is unique—so each program in the Energy Ready suite offers multiple pathways to designation that can be tailored to local priorities. For example, the steps that make sense for a large city may differ from those that fit best for a rural community. Whatever your community’s priorities or challenges, you don’t need to start from scratch! Our technical assistance providers can connect you with vetted best practices and help you prioritize the most impactful and appropriate actions.
Some of the specific benefits of solar, distributed wind, and electric vehicles that motivate communities to participate in our programs include:
- economic growth, including local business opportunities in clean energy (job growth) and accessing clean energy investments
- energy independence and cost stabilization
- increased energy choice for residents and businesses
- disaster preparedness and climate resilience
- ensuring that energy development aligns with community preferences, such as making sure large-scale solar plants are sited appropriately and include long-term benefits for residents
- cleaner air and other environmental benefits
- climate change mitigation and other sustainability goals
Energy Ready is designed to support local government staff.
Not a local government employee but interested in the benefits these programs can provide in your community? We welcome you to share information about these programs with your local representatives and government employees.
The Energy Ready suite of programs is available to U.S. local governments, including all fifty states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. We are not able to work with local governments outside of the U.S.
