Congratulations to Professor Laura Kuhl for being awarded a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for her proposed research project, Energy Justice Transformation after Crisis: Lessons from Puerto Rico for the Mainland United States. The comparative community-engaged project will examine the power dynamics that surround disruptions, recovery, and the related implications for equitable energy transformation in Puerto Rico, West Virginia, and Massachusetts – three regions with different energy systems and disparate political contexts. The research team will work with community partners to ensure that marginalized voices that are often left out of discussions of energy transformation are elevated. The research design will center community perspectives on energy transformation in their community. The project will highlight how energy investments are being deployed on the ground and how these investments align with the priorities of the communities themselves. The project will also explore if and how commitments to energy justice are realized among impacted communities and identify barriers to energy equity in these three diverse regions.
Collaborators include Jamie Shinn (West Virginia University) and Marla Perez Lugo (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley). Community Partners include GreenRoots, Inc (Massachusetts), West Virginia Rivers (West Virginia), and Impacto Juventud (Puerto Rico).
