Energy Trust’s vision is clean, affordable energy for everyone. Achieving this means working to reach previously underserved customers, including communities of color, tribes, rural Oregonians and people with low incomes.

In 2018, Energy Trust published its first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Operations Plan that included 10 goals to increase program participation and drive change in other parts of the organization by the end of 2020.

Since then, the organization has created a Diversity Advisory Council and hired a full-time diversity, equity and inclusion lead.

For 2021, Energy Trust staff set new goals that build on the framework and lessons learned under the previous operations plan. These goals are:

• Increase residential participation among people of color
• Support participation among small and medium business customers and rural business customers
• Increase participation among small and medium industrial and agricultural businesses in rural areas
• Increase the adoption of solar projects benefitting low-income customers, rural communities and communities of color
• Increase participation in the Trade Ally Network among COBID-certified minority, women and service-disabled veteran owned businesses
• Increase the number of projects completed by minority, women and service-disabled veteran owned trade allies
• Increase the number of contracts with Black-owned businesses and minority, women and service-disabled veteran owned businesses and improve contract tracking systems to support increased supplier diversity
• Build more effective relationships with community-based organizations
• Increase representation of staff identifying as people of color
• Determine new ways to track participation among communities of color, low-income households and rural customers
• Increase the ability of staff and the board to work across cultures
• Increase awareness and understanding of these goals and progress

More information on these goals can be found in the 2021 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Operations Plan.

This year, Energy Trust will engage stakeholders and gather feedback to inform its future goals and work to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. This process will involve community-based organizations, customer advocates, community leaders, businesses and trade groups.

Learn more about diversity, equity and inclusion at Energy Trust.