A significant risk in this IRA moment is that – without access to upfront capital to fund projects or technical assistance to design, build, and manage clean energy projects – many organizations will miss it.
To ensure federal funding flows to under-resourced communities without sacrificing good jobs and economic justice, we need trusted intermediaries to provide guidance and technical assistance with a community-benefits lens. Working Power is purpose-built to develop and finance clean energy projects with frontline communities at the scale, scope, and speed of the challenge.
Working Power speeds execution through technical assistance and a creative financing model that combines debt, equity, philanthropic grants, and incentives to fully fund projects while preserving direct local ownership of projects. Their approach leverages Direct Pay and additional IRA funding, such as from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, to scale community-owned clean energy.
From left to right: U.S. Department of Energy Secretary, Jennifer Granholm; and Working Power Co-Founder, Bracken Hendricks at the Brentwood Reservoir Community Solar project in Washington, D.C. (Photo Courtesy of Niki Molina at Urban Ingenuity)
The Direct Pay refund will pay down project costs faster, generating community dividends sooner. Once projects are operational, they generate revenue for organizations, enabling them to scale their core mission and support operational sustainability. In this way, Working Power connects impact investors with financeable pools of justice-centered projects to rapidly achieve scale in a just transition.
“The U.S. is poised for a generation-defining wave of public investment in clean energy infrastructure that can build wealth for working families. But, realizing this opportunity for economic justice is not inevitable. It demands effective deployment of capital through local ownership to build wealth, power, and voice as part of transformative climate solutions.” – Bracken Hendricks, Working Power
