Community Engagement Is More Than Outreach. It Also Builds Better Products and Programs

Community engagement can do more than build awareness of a clean energy technology. It can help build a better solution. 

Engaging people and communities during development can reveal barriers, challenge assumptions and identify improvements before a product or program reaches the market. 

The problem isn't always awareness 

When consumers aren't embracing a clean energy technology, the barrier may go deeper than awareness. 

Local leaders often understand obstacles that don't appear in demographic data or customer surveys. They know which organizations people trust, what financial or cultural barriers influence decisions and whether a solution fits into everyday life. 

Better products begin with better conversations 

Entrepreneurs spend considerable time validating technology, testing prototypes and interviewing prospective customers. Community engagement complements those efforts by bringing in the perspectives of the broader communities where technologies will ultimately be deployed. 

Those conversations can help answer practical questions: 

• What is the biggest barrier to adoption?
• Does the technology solve the problem customers care about most?
• Which features matter most?
• What would make adoption easier?
• Which organizations have already earned the community's trust?  

Finding those answers early can reduce the need to redesign a product or change a go-to-market strategy after launch. 

Listening changed California's EV rebate program 

The Center for Sustainable Energy’s experience administering California's Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) shows the importance of community engagement. 

When the program launched in 2010, it introduced Californians to an emerging technology, electric vehicles (EVs). As the EV market matured, the program shifted its focus toward reaching households facing the greatest barriers to adoption. 

At first, the challenge appeared to be raising awareness. 

But feedback gathered through a statewide network of more than 40 community-based organizations, listening sessions, surveys and 1,800 community events revealed something different. Many residents questioned whether an EV could meet their daily transportation needs. Renters worried about where they would charge. Others simply could not afford the upfront cost, even with a rebate. 

Community feedback led to changes in the program itself, including larger rebates for income-qualified households, a savings calculator that helped consumers identify additional incentives, and an incentive option for public charging for rebate recipients with no access to home charging. 

The results were significant. Following equity-focused program changes introduced in 2016, the share of income-qualified rebate recipients grew from 6% to more than 32%. By the program's final year, increased rebates for income-qualified applicants accounted for the majority of funding, and nearly 90% of income-qualified participants said the rebate influenced their decision to buy or lease their EV. 

The lesson was clear: Community feedback can lead to better solutions. 

Looking beyond traditional industry partners 

Another lesson from CSE's outreach work is that strong partners can be outside the clean energy sector. Organizations focused on housing, public health, workforce development or economic opportunity often have deep relationships with the people entrepreneurs hope to reach. 

For example, CSE partnered with the Central California Asthma Collaborative to expand outreach around EVs. Cleaner transportation aligns with the organization’s mission to improve air quality and public health. It also had earned the trust of the communities CSE wanted to engage. 

For startups, the lesson is to identify organizations that understand your future customers, have earned their trust and can provide insights that improve both the customer’s experience and the solution itself. 

Build with communities, not just for them 

The strongest clean energy solutions succeed because they reflect how people live, what they value and the obstacles they face. 

Whether you're launching a clean energy startup or implementing an incentive program, the goal of community engagement should not be to validate decisions that have already been made. It should be to make better decisions at the start. 

This is part of a series of articles and webinars by CSE in partnership with New Energy Nexus (NEX) California as part of the CalSEED program for early-stage clean tech entrepreneurs. This series is designed to share key knowledge, actionable tools and best practices to support clean energy innovators in driving sustainable solutions forward.

CalSEED

Administered by New Energy Nexus, CalSEED is one of several initiatives funded by the California Energy Commission EPIC program to advance energy innovation. CalSEED grants of up to $700,000 are awarded to early-stage clean energy entrepreneurs to accelerate California’s clean energy goals.  

New Energy Nexus California

New Energy Nexus California supports entrepreneurs building equitable climate and clean energy solutions across the state since its founding in 2004. The team works across the full innovation journey, from early-stage funding and technical validation to market access, policy engagement, and ecosystem building. Programs include CalSEED, CalTestBed, Bay Area High Road Manufacturing Initiative (BAHRMI), and industry convenings that strengthen California’s leadership in battery innovation and domestic supply chains. Since 2016, NEX California has supported 200+ entrepreneurs and startups and deployed $58.6 million in funding, technical assistance, and ecosystem initiatives statewide. 

Center for Sustainable Energy  

Center for Sustainable Energy® (CSE) is a national nonprofit that accelerates adoption of clean transportation and distributed energy through effective and equitable program design and administration. Governments, utilities and the private sector trust CSE for its data-driven and software-enabled approach, deep domain expertise and customer-focused team. CSE’s fee-for-service business model frees it from the influence of shareholders, members and donors, and ensures its independence.