GTI Energy
At a Glance
Industry
Energy or Utility
Project Types
Climate Justice/Energy Equity, Engagement and Behavior Change
Year
2023
Location
Des Plaines, IL
Summary
GTI Energy is working to incorporate Environmental Justice into its strategy to contribute to the just energy transition.
Goals
The goal of the fellowship was to develop the case for integrating Environmental Justice into GTI Energy’s overall strategy, by laying out the organization’s activities related to EJ, gathering information about EJ best practices, and assisting the EJ Subcommittee in the development of resources for GTI Energy.
Solutions
A set of recommendations were presented to the organization to help incorporate EJ into its strategy:
- Internal EJ basic and in-depth training for employees
- Project classification and tracking of environmental and social impacts to understand the role and opportunity of the organization and to manage and prioritize EJ actions
- Expanding its partnerships, to strengthen and build relationships with communities, and to develop new forms of collaboration
- Enhancing the capacity of the teams of Community Benefits and Sustainability
- Coordinating, integrating and guiding EJ efforts in various areas of the organization.
Potential Impact
Incorporating an EJ approach in GTI Energy’s strategy could facilitate its work on alleviating environmental and social burdens on disadvantaged communities. Furthermore, with its skilled staff, it is a unique position of access to knowledge which can help inform communities and build relationships of trust which could evolve into community benefits programs or other forms of collaboration.
Finally, the requirements for community benefits and community engagement plans are now key requirements to apply for government funding, demanding more expertise in this field, which GTI Energy could benefit from if a new line of business for this service is developed.