The 13th OECD Rural Development Conference was held in Cavan, Ireland on 28-30 September 2022 under the theme "Building Sustainable, Resilient and Thriving Rural Places". These are the presentations from the Conference parallel session "Local Strategies for Sustainable Rural Energy Communities: Transforming Emission-Intensive Activities into Environmentally Friendly and Net-Zero Alternatives". For more information visit https://www.oecd.org/rural/rural-development-conference/.

1. Building Sustainable, Resilient and Thriving Rural Places,
Ballyconnell, IE, September 2022
Local Strategies for Sustainable Rural Energy
Communities: Transforming Emission-Intensive Activities
into Environmentally Friendly and Net-Zero Alternatives
Clean Energy Districts and the Rural Energy for America
Program: an effective partnership for rural clean energy
prosperity and climate stewardship
Andrew Johnson, Executive Director,
Clean Energy Districts of Iowa

2. Personal
 Iowa Farm Boy, Conservationist
 Wife a Certified Nurse Midwife
 Farm raises Christmas trees, beef
and lamb, wildness, and daughters
 Clean Energy Districts

3. Where in the World …
 Iowa: agricultural heartland
 30M out of 36M acres in ag
 12GW wind, 57% state’s electricity
 2010: Winneshiek
County: Northeast IA,
1st CED
 2019: Clean Energy
Districts of Iowa: 10
members in Iowa, 1 in
Wisconsin

4. In 10 minutes
 An emissions intensive activity: rural life, and agriculture
 An agency and program: USDA-RD REAP
 A Universal Local Institution: Clean Energy Districts
 Accelerating impacts, cultural identity, nested economy
 Clean energy prosperity and climate stewardship
opportunities in rural communities

5. Agriculture and Rural Life
 Life in developed world is emissions
intensive activity; need to recognize
 As is Iowa agriculture, which is an
industry, and a culture
 Change requires good policy, local
implementers, cultural ownership,
and nested circular economies
 The clean energy transition can bring
prosperity to rural places … or not;
ownership matters

6. Energy ($$) Intensive is also
a Prosperity Opportunity

7. A Policy: Rural Energy For
America Program (REAP)
 Grant and loans for EE/RE
 To agricultural producers and rural
small businesses
 ALSO, grants for energy auditing for
EE/RE for agricultural producers
and rural small businesses
 Ownership program plus local
implementer = acceleration

8. An Institution: Clean Energy Districts
 County level non profit Universal Local
Institutions with historical roots
 Lead/implement/accelerate the locally-
owned clean energy transition
 Because the opportunity is huge for local
investment, ownership, and prosperity

9. How Do CEDs Work?
 Boots on the Ground: TA
 Market Transformation
 Public Engagement
 Advocacy
 Change energy from wealth
extraction to prosperity
 A universal-local implementer for
state/fed programs such as REAP

10. CEDs plus REAP impacts
 Technical assistance to hundreds of
farms and small businesses
 4 rural NEIA CEDI counties: nearly
1,000 customer-owned solar systems
 $44 million invested, $70 million
saved, 500+ jobs, 300 watts/capita
 Nested circular economy brings clean
energy prosperity and builds cultural
identity, thriving rural places

11. Rural Clean Energy and Climate
Stewardship Opportunities
 Fund Universal Local Implementers:
Clean Energy Districts
 Create nested circular economies
and thriving communities
 And two big elephants …
 Locally owned clean fertilizer
 Soil carbon
 Fund successful policies like REAP, which recently received
add’l 2.2 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act

12. Thank You
 Andy Johnson, CEDI Director: andy@energydistrict.org
 https://energydistrict.org/resources/leading-the-
energy-district-movement/
 A Lost Land, by Eavan Boland
I have two daughters.
They are all I ever wanted from the earth.
Or almost all.
I also wanted one piece of ground: …