Community Input Is Critical to a Just Clean Energy Transition, New California Case Studies Illustrate

The deployment of utility-scale solar energy projects in California deserts has excluded and unexpectedly harmed nearby rural communities, according to new research published by authors at Boston University’s Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS).

The research team identified several policy recommendations to guide a more equitable clean energy transition: installing solar on existing infrastructure rather than undeveloped landscapes, empowering residents by including them in the planning process, providing financial incentives, and integrating solar as part of a comprehensive set of solutions.

For the study, researchers conducted site visits, interviews, and focus groups with dozens of people in East Riverside County, California, and neighboring Parker, Arizona, that have experienced rapid solar development since 2009.

“Solar power stands to play a significant role in advancing clean energy goals in the United States, with California being the country’s top solar market,” said Benjamin Sovacool, director of IGS and a co-author on the studies. “This study demonstrates the importance of deploying solar and other lower-carbon technologies with equity and justice as key considerations that may evolve into negative concerns and constraints.”

The research team noted in both cases that bold decarbonization goals drove rapid solar expansion but lacked adequate community consultation and participatory processes. This resulted in adverse and temporary employment alongside ecological harms related to clearing desert habitats. While outside workers contributed to the local economy in rural areas, the majority of the economic benefits appear to be concentrated in the administrative hubs of western Riverside County. Overall, the research highlights the deepening of existing social injustices within each community.

“Residents did not feel included as part of the planning processes in these major projects, which have transformed their daily lives,” said Alexander Dunlap, a postdoctoral fellow at IGS and lead author on the studies. “So far, the people living near these massive solar developments have suffered many negative consequences and no tangible benefits. That has to change.”

Residents on Solar Projects: ‘Our Town is Dying’

The first study, published in the Journal of Peasant Studies, examines Desert Center, CA. The second, published in Geoforum, focuses on Blythe, CA.

• Enclosure and confinement: Many communities have become slowly enclosed by solar projects, cut off from nearby nature and transportation. One planned project will surround a community on three sides, with some homes less than 250 feet away. Because much of the public land in their communities has been leased by the federal government to solar developers, and wildlife and rare and endangered flora have been negatively impacted by solar installations, residents in East Riverside report decreased ability to enjoy the outdoor leisure activities that initially drew them to the area.
• Exclusion from community planning and lack of reliable information: When work began on the solar project, East Riverside residents reported that the planning meetings they were invited to were advertised only on state and federal websites, and sometimes newspapers, and located more than an hour away. In Blythe, focus group participants stated that the IGS researchers were “the first people [to] have come out here to talk about” solar.
• Degradation of local ecosystems: The removal of bushes, trees, and grass to lay solar panels is widely reported in these areas to increase silt and dust storms, which can cause unsafe driving conditions. Further, desert plants and trees have extensive root systems beneath the desert surface, which store carbon. Those are destroyed by the placement of solar panels. In East Riverside, residents observed a decline in birds, which can mistake solar panels for lakes and dive into them. Many spotted coyotes near their homes as the animals’ natural habitats were destroyed.
• Worsened inequality: Residents in both towns report that electricity prices have skyrocketed. These high prices disproportionately strain low-income residents. Many expressed concerns about their home values. When it came to securing employment at a solar site, in Blythe, residents used the phrase “it’s not what you know, but who you know.” The authors point to exclusionary hiring practices that reinforce color lines and unequal employment access.
• Mental health and stress: In Desert Center and Blythe, residents reported anxiety around the potential health effects of solar panels in the absence of sufficient public health outreach to allay their concerns about risk factors and prevent the spread of misinformation. Residents also reported anxiety as a result of their surging electric bills.

With New Insights, New Paths Forward

The research team offers several concrete recommendations to improve equity in the clean energy rollout:

• Minimize harm to ecosystems: To minimize ecological disruption, solar panels should be integrated into existing infrastructure, such as buildings and parking lots. Desert ecosystems should be remediated and preserved.
• Offer tangible benefits to affected community members: Residents should benefit economically from solar installation. Federal and state governments should offer electricity abatements to residents in or near energy extraction sites. This includes advancing consumer protection regulations against predatory rooftop solar panel installation practices.
• Solar cannot be the only solution: Efforts such as implementing energy savings, advancing recycling programs, using micro-grids, and community-scale urban and rural lower-carbon electricity generation projects should be explored.
• Include residents in planning: Residents must be actively included in planning sessions and given accurate and trustworthy information to address their concerns.

“Above all, these studies reinforce that communities are experts in their own experiences,” Dunlap said. “To craft long-lasting lower-carbon energy solutions with positive benefits, policymakers and stakeholders must deeply understand their perspectives.”