Located on the Ohio River, Cincinnati is tackling a persistent challenge: energy poverty. Two groundbreaking initiatives, organized and supported by FUSE Executive Fellows Nikki Vandivort and Thanapat Vichitchot, pave the way for systemic change. These projects aren’t just about reducing utility bills; they’re aimed at dismantling deep-rooted inequities and fostering sustainable futures. By tapping into federal resources and nurturing diversity in green jobs, Cincinnati is setting a blueprint for other cities to achieve sustainable and equitable outcomes through innovative public-private collaborations.
Key Takeaways
- Historical Context and Systemic Challenges: Cincinnati’s energy poverty issues are deeply rooted in a history of systemic racism and discriminatory policies. Redlining, for instance, has left a lasting mark, leading to disproportionate energy burdens for low-income Black and Latino households. These communities often spend an outsized portion of their income to keep their homes heated, cooled, and the lights on.
- Innovative Leadership and Collaboration: Cincinnati’s city leadership is dedicated to the work. The transformative projects with FUSE Executive Fellows Nikki Vandivort and Thanapat Vichitchot are laser-focused on securing sustainable funding and ensuring community voices are front and center in decision-making processes.
- Revolutionizing Funding Strategies: Nikki Vandivort has revolutionized Cincinnati’s renewable energy funding strategies by effectively blending federal resources with private-sector partnerships. Her initiatives have streamlined processes and enhanced access to clean energy solutions. She has also engaged over 220 local leaders and residents and facilitated collaborations to achieve Cincinnati’s ambitious climate goals.
- Workforce Development and Green Jobs: Thanapat Vichitchot is organizing efforts to transform workforce development in the green economy by increasing awareness of green jobs and green job pathways, identifying gaps and creating needed in-demand training opportunities, and focusing on boosting diversity in existing green job pathways. He’s tackling systemic barriers head-on, from transportation hurdles to access to training programs. The ambitious goal? Train 4,000 individuals for green jobs by 2028, opening up new pathways out of poverty for marginalized communities.
- Community Engagement and Long-term Impact: Cincinnati’s collaborative efforts emphasize the importance of community engagement and stakeholder collaboration in achieving sustainable outcomes. By reducing energy costs and enhancing access to green jobs, these initiatives aim to create generational impacts for residents, paving the way for a more equitable future.
The Need for Change
In Cincinnati, as in many American cities, the roots of energy poverty among Black and Latino households with lower incomes can be traced back to decades of systemic racism and discriminatory policies. Redlining, a federal housing policy that kicked off in the 1930s, effectively segregated neighborhoods by race and denied mortgages and other financial services to residents in predominantly Black and Latino areas. As a result, these communities were starved of investment, leading to crumbling housing stock, schools, and infrastructure – a legacy still visible in Cincinnati’s city landscape today.
Other factors piled on over time, compounding the impact of these historical injustices. Discriminatory zoning laws often clustered industrial facilities and highways in or near communities of color, increasing pollution and dragging down property values. This, in turn, made it an uphill battle for residents to build wealth or invest in energy-efficient home improvements. The exodus of jobs to the suburbs and the neglect of public transportation meant many residents, particularly people of color, faced longer and pricier commutes. National wage stagnation and the rising cost of living further contributed to economic pressures that made energy costs particularly burdensome for Black and Latino households with lower incomes in Cincinnati.
Recent data from ACEEE underscore the severity of this issue and highlight the urgent need for comprehensive strategies to alleviate energy poverty and promote economic equity. The upper quartile of households with lower incomes in Cincinnati face energy burdens that exceed the “severe burden” threshold: 14.8% for homeowners and 10.9% for renters, or approximately 10,646 households.
City Leadership and FUSE Collaboration
Cincinnati’s city leadership is proactively designing transformative projects to tackle energy poverty and boost workforce development. At the center of these efforts is Oliver Kroner, the Director of the Office of Environment & Sustainability, whose leadership has been crucial in aligning the city’s sustainability goals with practical solutions to combat energy poverty. He has brought together individuals from across city departments and engaged community stakeholders to ensure that the strategies developed are comprehensive and inclusive.
Working closely with Oliver Kroner, Molly Robertshaw is the Sustainability Manager for Cincinnati’s Office of Environment & Sustainability. Her focus on equity and community engagement is pivotal in advancing the 2023 Green Cincinnati Plan. As a key collaborator with Kroner, Robertshaw ensures that sustainability initiatives are effective and inclusive, addressing Cincinnati’s communities’ diverse needs.
On the funding front, Robert McCracken, Oliver Kroner, and Rachel Bickett have spearheaded efforts to revolutionize strategies to alleviate the city’s energy burden. McCracken’s expertise as the Energy Manager for the Office of Environment & Sustainability has been vital in implementing climate action goals and securing renewable energy sources. As the Energy Equity Project Coordinator, Rachel Bickett has been instrumental in facilitating strategic partnerships that leverage federal funding opportunities.
Markiea Carter, the Director of the Department of Community and Economic Development for the City of Cincinnati, is a champion for green workforce development with Kroner and Robertshaw. As a co-executive sponsor of the green workforce development project, she is instrumental in fostering economic growth and revitalizing neighborhoods by providing financial and technical resources, facilitating strategic partnerships, and overseeing a diverse portfolio of projects. These initiatives include major economic development incentive agreements, housing development, and neighborhood investment efforts.
FUSE was brought into the mix as a collaborative partner to catalyze this work, bringing its expertise in addressing complex social issues through strategic resource allocation. This partnership has enabled Cincinnati to effectively tackle energy poverty by combining local leadership with innovative funding and community engagement approaches, setting a model for other cities aiming to achieve sustainable and equitable outcomes.
Nikki Vandivort: Revolutionizing Funding Strategies
FUSE Executive Fellow Nikki Vandivort’s role in connecting various stakeholders and securing funding has been foundational in forming and sustaining these public-private partnerships, ensuring that Cincinnati’s clean energy initiatives are impactful and enduring.
Vandivort is taking a holistic view, using an “energy continuum” approach to layer together funding and programs that serve households, nonprofits, and businesses with energy efficiency, electrification, and clean energy generation upgrades, recognizing that a sequential approach allows for more profound cost and energy savings, more meaningful improvements to the comfort and use of buildings, and cleaner indoor environments where natural gas is displaced with electrification. This strategy sets a precedent for systemic change, recognizing that while federal grants are crucial, they’re also highly competitive and resource-intensive. By diversifying funding sources and leveraging the City’s community choice aggregation program, Vandivort is helping pave the way for long-term, sustainable solutions to energy poverty.
During her FUSE listening tour, she identified an opportunity to integrate $300,000 of Office of Environment & Sustainability (OES) funds with HUD federal funding. This integration supports home repairs for residents with lower incomes, allowing for high-efficiency choices in HVAC systems and insulation when electrification projects are undertaken. Vandivort credits FUSE’s Listening Tour for facilitating this connection with Matt Shad from the City’s Buildings & Inspections Department.
Additionally, following the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) Implementation Grant application effort, Vandivort recognized the need for an integrated energy team approach. Since March, she has been meeting biweekly with team members like Robert McCracken (Energy Manager), Rachel Bickett (Energy Equity Project Coordinator), Thanapat Vichitchot, and new members Nolan Brown (AmeriCorps VISTA) and Anna Stowers (Public Ally). This collaborative effort underscores the importance of diverse stakeholder engagement in achieving Cincinnati’s ambitious climate goals.
Private Sector Engagement in Cincinnati’s Clean Energy Initiatives
Nikki Vandivort’s efforts to secure funding have been foundational to Cincinnati’s ability to form and sustain private sector partnerships, which are crucial for reducing residents’ energy burden. By strategically leveraging federal resources and local initiatives, Vandivort has significantly advanced projects like the Clean Energy Solutions Request for Proposals (RFP). This initiative aims to introduce over 100 megawatts of solar power to support city operations and the aggregation program, a crucial strategy for achieving the City’s goal of 100% renewable energy for city operations by 2035.
Vandivort’s involvement extends to supporting the Solar For All – Industrial Heartland Solar Coalition award implementation. This project seeks to develop up to five megawatts of new solar installations, particularly on city properties like the closed Center Hill Landfill, transforming it from a “brownfield” into a “brightfield.” This initiative not only addresses environmental challenges but also fosters economic opportunities by creating pathways out of poverty for underserved communities. Utilizing a braided funding approach, including federal funds and the City’s Revolving Loan Fund, this initiative aims to provide lower-cost electricity to up to 1,300 low-income residents while reinvesting tax credits into future projects. Solar For All also has a workforce component, so Vichitchot is engaged in this effort to identify and collaborate with training partners in order to pilot solar installation training in the Greater Cincinnati Region.
These collaborative efforts exemplify how Vandivort’s strategic funding initiatives have enabled diverse stakeholders—including local government, businesses, and community organizations—to work together towards Cincinnati’s ambitious climate goals. Through her proactive engagement and technical advisory role, Vandivort has been pivotal in connecting the dots between various stakeholders, ensuring the successful execution of these initiatives, and setting a benchmark for municipal clean energy projects nationwide.
Thanapat Vichitchot: Transforming Workforce Development
Thanapat Vichitchot supports a transformative workforce development project in Cincinnati to dismantle systemic barriers to green jobs. With over 15 years of experience in workforce development, Vichitchot brings a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit to the initiative. His project focuses on developing relationships with workforce system partners, assessing the green jobs landscape, raising awareness of green jobs and pathways, and planning efforts to get individuals trained for in-demand, quality green jobs while fostering diversity in these emerging sectors. Addressing barriers such as transportation and access to training programs ensures inclusivity to meet the needs of Cincinnati’s residents.
The project is not merely about job creation; it aims to provide pathways out of poverty for residents with lower incomes, ensuring that the benefits of the green economy are equitably shared. Vichitchot’s strategic approach includes leveraging existing coalitions, such as Co-op Cincy’s Good Green Jobs Coalition and Green Umbrella’s Green Schoolyards Workforce Committee, to avoid duplication of efforts and maximize impact through coordinated actions. In order to understand the green workforce landscape, he initiated the commissioning of a formal green workforce landscape analysis and partnered with Co-op Cincy on this project of mutual interest with a grant match from the City of Cincinnati. He addressed a key theme of lack of awareness of green jobs and pathways by launching the Green Jobs webpages as a community resource as part of the City of Cincinnati’s Office of Environment and Sustainability website.
Importance of Green Workforce Scaling and Community/Stakeholder Engagement
The scaling of Cincinnati’s green workforce is critical to meeting the city’s climate goals, particularly the target of training 4,000 individuals by 2028, from 400 to 800 per year, doubling existing job training projections. This effort is essential for supporting the city’s transition to a sustainable economy while addressing economic disparities. The focus on green jobs in sectors like construction is vital due to the low participation rates among BIPOC and women, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to ensure equitable access and persistence in these career pathways.
Community engagement and stakeholder collaboration have been central to Vichitchot’s project. He has engaged close to 500 people through 1:1’s, speaker panels, an Innovation lab, hosted webinars and other methods. The Innovation Lab, facilitated by Blended Impact, exemplifies this approach by bringing together over 20 stakeholders from various sectors to address racial and gender disparities in green job pathways. The lab emphasized a community-centered process and highlighted the importance of transparent leadership and inclusive system design.
Workforce Development is a cross-sector theme in federal funding. Vichitchot supported several grant applications through grant writing, grant editing, and garnering partner support letters. He has shared funding opportunities with partners and encouraged grant applications.
Strategic partnerships with organizations like Co-op Cincy have been crucial in forming coalitions that drive the agenda for quality, green jobs in Cincinnati. These partnerships have enabled coordinated efforts in grant applications and strategic planning, ensuring that community needs are prioritized and well-coordinated. By focusing on creating a sustainable framework for workforce development, Vichitchot’s project not only aims to meet environmental targets but also empowers residents through equitable economic opportunities.
Generational Impact on Residents
Cincinnati’s approach demonstrates that through collaboration, innovation, and persistent community engagement, cities can overcome significant challenges and pave the way for a more sustainable and equitable future. By reducing energy costs and enhancing access to green job opportunities, the city is opening up new possibilities for its residents. Nikki Vandivort and Thanapat Vichitchot have collaborated with diverse stakeholders through efforts like the Co-op Cincy Good Green Jobs Committee, which unites employers, training providers, and incentive experts to build a robust green workforce.
Moreover, Vandivort’s collaborations with organizations like the Cincinnati Zoo, Faith Communities Go Green, and SonLight Power aim to secure federal funding for energy upgrades and workforce training. Her outreach through IRA webinars and one-on-one meetings with public institutions and nonprofits exemplifies how diverse stakeholder engagement is critical to achieving Cincinnati’s varied goals in housing, poverty alleviation, and energy burden reduction.
Current Data and Projected Outcomes
- Electricity Costs: As of 2024, Cincinnati residents spend about $172 per month on electricity, 30% lower than the national average. However, these rates can vary based on pricing offered by Duke Energy (the investor-owned utility serving southwestern Ohio) and the city’s annual contract for the aggregation program. For example, during the 2023/2024 period, the program offered rates that were half of Duke’s rates, similar to the current rates in 2024/2025. The City has purchased 100% renewable energy for its Community Choice Aggregation Program for over a decade and is designed to provide a more affordable electricity rate than Duke and that of many other 3rd party energy providers available to Ohioans.
- Workforce Development: Thanapat Vichitchot’s efforts aim to train 4,000 individuals for green jobs by 2028, providing opportunities for economic mobility for residents of varying income levels. His initiation of the formal green workforce landscape analysis report will provide in-depth occupational data and insights about the region’s various industries and in-demand jobs in the green economy. From that report, set to be released in Quarter 1 of 2025, the development of outcomes and strategic plans to achieve them can be implemented.
Broader Implications
As other cities look to Cincinnati as a model, it’s becoming clear that addressing energy poverty requires more than just technical solutions – it demands a comprehensive reevaluation of how power and resources are distributed. Historical factors such as redlining have contributed to the current disparities in energy burden among Black and Latino households. By addressing these systemic issues through innovative public-private partnerships and strategic resource allocation, Cincinnati is not just lighting homes; it’s illuminating paths to a more just and sustainable society.
Cincinnati’s journey shows that cities can tackle longstanding challenges and create meaningful change through collaboration, innovation, and a commitment to equity. As the city continues to refine and expand its initiatives, it offers valuable lessons for cities grappling with similar issues across the country. The road ahead may be long, but Cincinnati’s progress provides a glimmer of hope for a future where clean energy and economic opportunity are accessible to all.
