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The Health and Environmental Funders Network (HEFN) and The Funders Network (TFN) invite you to learn how community-developed, locally-owned infrastructure can deliver not only more affordable clean heating and cooling, but also energy justice, resilience, and long-term public value.

As a neighborhood-scale solution, Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) are a high-impact way to provide heating and cooling to many buildings at once, and a system for which the ownership model matters as much as the technology. Rather than reproducing existing extractive patterns, community-led TEN development can reduce risk, accelerate adoption, and create durable, equitable outcomes. More than a climate solution, locally-owned TENs can be a platform for building local wealth, affordability, workforce development, housing stability, and other community priorities.

This webinar describes how place-based, neighborhood-scale decarbonization is advancing across the country, centered on locally-owned TENs. Speakers will provide practical examples from their work on the ground to build projects that align infrastructure investment with public good, offering specific pathways for near-term action. Current funders will share insights on how foundations can play a catalytic role by supporting the predevelopment ecosystem that neither markets nor utilities are currently designed to provide.

With local ownership of TENs, energy democracy is actionable, and the work is urgent. With community ownership as a practical delivery strategy, clean energy projects can build trust, agency, participation, and long-term stewardship. Join us to learn about the tools, the replicable model, and the opportunities we have to scale this solution.

Energy democracy becomes real when communities have the ability to plan, finance, own, and govern the infrastructure that serves them and their priorities.