By: Liz Robinson

Liz is being presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at PennFuture’s Celebrating Women in Conservation Awards event for her work as founder and former executive director of the Energy Coordinating Agency, where she served for 33 years; for her work as the co-founder and first director of the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance, and for her current accomplishments as executive director of the Philadelphia Solar Energy Association.

I began my career as a teacher, in both public and private schools, but moved quickly to community organizing and human services, landing in homeless services. After three years as the director of a homeless shelter, I realized that I’d much rather be preventing problems than band-aiding them. I also realized that energy costs were one of the few basic needs that low income residents could actually control. My love of nature and commitment to preserving the environment led me to low income energy services.  

Philadelphia in the early 1980’s was in the throes of a full blown energy and poverty crisis. Philadelphia Gas Works went from shutting off 3,000 customers a year to shutting off 30,000 for nonpayment in one year. Entire blocks were left without power. Unfortunately, PGW considered these customers “deadbeats” and refused to meet with the advocates defending them. I went to the mayor and to the religious leadership and asked them to broker a dialogue with PGW. We formed an Energy/Poverty Task Force, and undertook a yearlong research effort to analyze Philadelphia’s low income energy problem for the first time. The task force then convened a broad range of public/private stakeholders to develop comprehensive, lasting solutions.

Thus, the Energy Coordinating Agency was established in 1984 to coordinate all low income energy services, streamline access, build capacity, and develop systems to insure high quality and accountability. The delivery system had to be grassroots, so we created the citywide network of Neighborhood Energy Centers, a system which has since been replicated in Delaware. The cornerstone of the system was and remains energy conservation and efficiency, accompanied by strong self-help energy education to enable low income households to reduce their usage to affordable levels.  I was hired as ECA’s first executive director and remained in the role until August of 2017.

In the mid 1990’s, the restructuring of the utility industry created many opportunities for clean energy. Together with advocates statewide, I worked to put in place the policy frameworks for both the energy efficiency and solar industries in the Keystone state. I contributed to a number of key accomplishments, including the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, the first net metering tariff, the first training for solar photovoltaic professionals, the first clean energy education campaign, and Act 129. In this process, I worked very closely with a small group of advocates to establish the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance (KEEA) and its sister organization, the KEEA Energy Education Fund (KEEF). KEEA is the trade association for Pennsylvania’s energy efficiency industry.

One of ECA’s great contributions has consistently been to use its nimbleness as a nonprofit to convene the stakeholders, and create the structures and institutions that are needed to advance the clean energy industry in Pennsylvania. ECA also managed the Energy Cooperative Association of Philadelphia, transforming it from a city-based oil coop into a statewide renewable energy cooperative, growing ECAP overnight from 700 to 7000 members.

ECA is now focused on developing the highly skilled and diverse workforce of local men and women so desperately needed to fill jobs in the rapidly growing energy efficiency and solar energy industries.

I am now consulting with a few organizations, one of which is the Philadelphia Solar Energy Association. PSEA is a fabulous local group which has been sponsoring the Junior Solar Sprint for 25 years. Through the Junior Solar Sprint,  5th through  8th graders design, build and race model solar cars, and have a great deal of fun in the process!  Come join us for this amazing event on Saturday, May 19th at 9 am on the Drexel Campus at 31st and Market Streets.

Philadelphia has finally begun to make strides toward its goal of becoming a sustainable city, but the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is lagging behind again. State legislators need to understand that their goals of economic prosperity and good-paying jobs for Pennsylvanians can most rapidly be met by investing in energy efficiency and solar. These are the cleanest energy resources, energy efficiency is the cheapest, and solar is now competitive with conventional supplies, both are found in abundance statewide, and they create more jobs than any other energy resources. With climate change well underway, none of us has a moment to lose.

Thank you so much for this award. It is truly an honor.

The 2018 Celebrating Women in Conservation Awards will be held Thursday, April 19 at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia. Click here to purchase tickets.