Pacific Gas & Electric Company

At a Glance

Industry

Energy or Utility

Project Types

Climate Justice/Energy Equity, Engagement and Behavior Change

Year

2024

Location

Oakland, CA

Summary

Rachel Pike designed an engagement strategy for PG&E to communicate the results of their Climate Adaptation and Vulnerability Assessment that will strengthen existing relationships and create new partnerships that move California towards a more resilient future.

Goals

PG&E recently published their first Climate Adaptation and Vulnerability Assessment (CAVA), and, as a part of this effort, conducted extensive community engagement with a variety of stakeholders. This assessment has valuable data and findings on climate vulnerabilities within PG&E's service area, and it is critical for PG&E's relationships with its stakeholders that they share the results of the CAVA and how they are integrating climate resilience into their business. The team enlisted Rachel Pike to design an engagement strategy for community organizations and local governments to most effectively communicate the findings of the CAVA and identify opportunities for collaboration on climate resilience projects.

Solutions

Rachel tackled the project by splitting it into two separate engagement strategies: 1. First, Rachel outlined a plan for re-engaging with members of a group of community members assembled during the first CAVA assessment. For this group, Rachel highlighted best practices for community engagement building off the work PG&E had already done to establish relationships with these stakeholders. She created a clear outline, provided engagement materials such as a monthly newsletter template, and identified Regional Climate Collaboratives that could serve as venues to share the findings of the CAVA. 2. Second, since PG&E's service area is large, Rachel's engagement strategy for local governments needed to be targeted to achieve success. So, she developed a quantitative assessment method to determine the "adaptive readiness" of localities. This metric provides PG&E with more information on who may be most primed for partnership on resilience projects and who may need more assistance. Then, Rachel adapted her first community engagement strategy for government outreach, providing a separate outline, considerations for government relationships, and materials such as an interest survey.

Potential Impact

Together, these projects provide the Climate Resilience Team with a strong framework upon which they can share the findings of their detailed assessment, begin working on implementing resilience projects, and strengthen existing and forge new relationships with key stakeholders. When implemented, this open and consistent dialogue with community members and local governments will help PG&E stay ahead of changing regulatory requirements, make progress in their climate commitments and efforts, and establish long lasting partnerships that will work towards creaing a more resilient and equitable California.

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