Rooted in Resilience: Learning from Wildfire-Impacted Communities
As the climate has changed, so have Oregon summers. Whether it’s increased utility costs due to wildfire insurance increases, more frequent power shut offs to prevent fire, or smoke events, the impacts of wildfire across the state reach all of us. “Frontline communities” is the term most often used to describe those who are most heavily impacted by the climate crisis.CEP is committed to serving those on the frontlines of climate change.
We host listening sessions with low-income utility customers to best turn our advocacy into action. Sessions have included various topics such as the impacts of heat pumps to resource hubs. Last month, CEP hosted a virtual community listening session to gather feedback from folks living in areas at higher risk of wildfire and safety related outages. We were thrilled to have 40 attendees sharing their experiences with emergency preparedness, utility communication, and engagement during previous wildfires and emergency situations. Most of the folks in this session were located in southern and central Oregon, and had experienced a public safety power shutoff. Our participants shared the following extremely valuable insights and recommendations for utilities to increase access to relevant information, improve communications, and build resilience:
Host regular community wildfire preparedness workshops in accessible, familiar locations such as community centers, libraries, and schools with accessible public transportation and virtual attendance options.
Offer supplies and resources that are useful in a public safety power shutoff. Many customers come from small communities and when notice of a public safety power shutoff happens, residents are all trying to utilize very limited resources at once.
If utilities cannot provide direct services, provide funding to those who can.
Partner with community based organizations to help with attendance and outreach.
Teach children about wildfire preparation in school to help inform the entire family about possible emergency events and upcoming wildfire workshops, particularly for those who do not speak English as a first language.
The experiences, concerns, and suggestions shared during our listening sessions help CEP be stronger advocates in our work and inform comments from energy advocates. We are honored that communities impacted by environmental and energy justice hardships trust us with their stories. Community Energy Project is committed to amplifying your voices and fighting for the protection of frontline households and the future of the environment.