The Clean Energy Districts of Iowa (CEDI) is a nonprofit organization that provides support and technical assistance to its member Energy Districts in counties across Iowa. CEDI aspires to demonstrate and advocate for this model in all states in the nation.
Mission
To strengthen and spread the clean Energy District model, by providing critical services to member districts, and creating a policy mechanism to authorize and fund clean energy districts at the state and federal levels.
Vision
A locally-led and locally-owned clean energy future, and a clean energy transition led by Clean Energy Districts in every county in the country,
- Bringing shared prosperity, resiliency, and vibrancy to every community and county;
- Ensuring the clean energy transition moves us towards a more socioeconomically inclusive and just society and economy; and
- Building consensus around and accelerating climate stewardship everywhere to meet Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) goals.
Theory of Change
- Localism works: in a polarized world, local leadership exists everywhere; local institutions are more trusted than regional/national; and special-purpose local institutions can dramatically accelerate/leverage/implement state and national goals.
- Energy (technology, economics, etc) is both ubiquitous and complicated; customers and communities require locally-led technical assistance, market transformation, and other forms of local leadership and resources to implement and own the clean energy future.
- Achieving a universal-local institutional framework will require policy/governmental partnership to create the legal structure for the special-purpose institution, and to establish sustainable financial mechanisms for their creation and operation.
- Achieving policy wins requires building the model and network in a controlled manner that prioritizes steady, regional growth with impact, in partnership with funding partners capable of sustaining the network through the interim years.