We Want Green, Too Makes Its MARC

We Want Green Too (WWGT) made its presence known at the annual Mid-America Regulatory Conference (MARC) for the second year in a row this summer (June 7th-10th) in Madison, WI. As WWGT’s new Community Engagement Coordinator, I had the privilege of attending MARC alongside my colleague, Energy Justice Strategist Amani Sawari, and other utility justice organizations that represent the Community Energy Engagement Network (CEEN). MARC annually hosts an association of regional organizations of utility and energy regulatory agencies from 14 states, including Michigan, to share ideas and discuss regulatory and policy issues affecting their states, region, and the nation.

Getting Grounded: to be CEEN (seen) is to be loved

In preparation for the MARC convening, CEEN kicked off the conference by hosting a preconvening with 13 different energy justice organizations across the Midwest to break bread, share our issue areas, wins, and future visions for a just and equitable utility landscape.

Collectively, we were able to reimagine a world with no rate hikes, reduced energy burden, an end to utility debt and shutoffs, data center moratoriums, and so much more.

Into The Unknown

The first full day of MARC began with one of the general sessions I was most excited about: Women in Male-Dominated Industries. As a woman who’s continuously navigating male-dominated spaces, I was excited to hear from other Women. While the panelists took to the stage, I whipped out my pen and notepad to receive some Women-led wisdom, only to feel deflated yet unsurprised to see an all-white panel. Despite the lack of melanin on the panel, I was hopeful of what was to come.

The moderator kicked off the session by asking each panelist what their walk-out song was. This seemed like an unrelated yet fun way to start off the panel, but little did I realize that this line of questioning would become a pattern. Each discussion question that followed seemed to stray from the topic of being a Women in the energy sector. Instead, they reminisced about being collegiate athletes over 20 years ago and about who they’d have dinner with, dead or alive. As the session came to a close, I was ready with my question. The minute they stepped on stage, I wrote out “How do you, as a minority, advocate for and ensure other minorities (PoC, LGBTQ, etc.) are uplifted in the workplace?” But that was it; the session came to a close with no audience questions. This would be a continued pattern at MARC in which each general session would be panelists sharing their thoughts on the topic with little-to-no audience input after the fact. I couldn’t help but think, what would MARC be like if there were more room for group discussion during sessions and for panelists, many of whom hold the privilege and power of energy equity in their hands, to be challenged in new ways through intentional audience engagement?What if that engagement came from a ratepayer who experiences utility burden? Questions and imaginations like these ruminated in my mind as the conference went on.

See More from Monica's reflection from MARC on CEEN's blog