In the 2024 Community Power Scorecard from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance — a measure of state policies related to energy democracy and utility accountability — state scores suggest lawmakers must take immediate action to improve. Of the 50 states and D.C., only one state scraped an above average grade (a B), 11 hit the C average, 13 received Ds, and 26 states received a failing F grade.
Want to know how your state could earn an A? Our full scoring methodology is available in this document — including explainers of the policies we track, and model policies you can advocate for today. Last year’s scores are available in our 2023 Scorecard.
This annual scorecard goes beyond greenhouse gas reductions or renewable generation capacity to evaluate how state policies help or hinder local clean energy action — because community power is necessary for an equitable, democratic transition away from the status quo. The states that score the highest support locally owned distributed generation, empower communities to pursue their own goals, and plan for an equitable transition to clean energy. High scoring states also hold utilities accountable, protecting ratepayers from inflated costs and other abuses of monopoly power.
ILSR’s Community Power Scorecard evaluates state policies as they are written, not their implementation. The work of advancing energy democracy requires continued advocacy, vigilance, and effort. The 18 policies evaluated in the scorecard are worth a maximum of 88 points, and you can view state scores below.
In addition to our own state legislative tracking, our scoring compiles data from the Center for Biological Diversity/Energy and Policy Institute, Clean Energy Works, DSIRE, Energy Justice Lab, Freeing the Grid (IREC and Vote Solar), Inside Climate News, NARUC, and SolarReviews.
To compare state policy environments, explore our interactive Community Power Map.
For timely updates from the Energy Democracy Initiative, follow John Farrell on Twitter, subscribe to the Energy Democracy weekly update, and check out the Local Energy Rules podcast.
Featured Photo: illustration by Maria McCoy
