As the end of 2023 draws near, the Clean Energy Transition Institute (CETI) team wishes to express our deep appreciation for all our supporters and colleagues who have made this such a successful year, both for CETI as well as for the clean energy economy in the Northwest. We are proud of all that we accomplished together this year, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration in 2024 to accelerate an equitable clean energy transition in the Northwest.

Advancing Decarbonization 

We kicked off the year performing a Northwest Clean Energy Ecosystem Assessment, interviewing over 40 key Northwest clean energy stakeholders to hear views about the state of the Northwest clean energy economy and CETI’s value in the ecosystem. We used what we learned to guide our work this year and will continue to build on the groundwork we have laid since our inception; sharpen our definition of an equitable clean energy transition and how we apply it to our work; and focus on regional decarbonization implementation strategies where we can provide the most value.

With this in mind, we made big strides in several of our program areas in 2023: 

Deep Decarbonization Pathways

• A primary focus for CETI this year was Net-Zero Northwest: Technical and Economic Pathways to 2050 (NZNW), the nation’s first regional, economy-wide analysis to describe pathways to net-zero emissions. The study investigates three different aspects of the clean energy transition: Energy Pathways, Health Impacts, and Workforce. 
• Washington's Department of Commerce selected CETI and Evolved Energy Research in a competitive bidding process to assess opportunities for and barriers to deploying green electrolytic hydrogen and renewable fuels in Washington. The report will be delivered to legislature by the end of the year.

Building Decarbonization

• We launched SCALE 2030: a new program of CETI and the 2050 Institute that builds upon our Operation 2030 project. The goal of SCALE 2030 is to transform the region’s building decarbonization system of incentive-based strategies that produce incremental change to a large-scale, systemic approach that will rapidly scale equitable building decarbonization. We are excited to dive deeper into this work in 2024.

Rural and Tribal Community Decarbonization

• In March, we released Preserving a Way of Life, the second installment of our Claiming Power video series. This five-minute film highlights one component—renewable energy—of a larger, comprehensive vision, launched by the Lummi Nation’s Strategic Energy plan.
• We received a grant through the University of Washington's Population Health Initiative to produce accurate, interactive, county-by-county data that show the potential for health improvement, emissions reduction, and economic development from community-scale solar in Washington’s rural communities. This work will begin in 2024.
• In November, we began work with the Washington State Department of Commerce, Ross Strategic, and Industrial Economics on a Rural Clean Energy Community Engagement and Economic Analysis study for the state.

A Successful Workforce Analysis Release and Webinar

On December 12, CETI hosted a webinar to dive into the findings of our Net-Zero Northwest Workforce analysis. With 140 registrants in advance and 65 people in attendance, this important study is resonating far and wide. We are excited for the conversations this work will generate in the region as we continue to explore how to support robust and equitable workforce development in the Northwest. In case you missed it, you can watch the recording or read our blog post recapping the event.

Growing Our Team

In November, we welcomed two new members to the CETI team. Jamie Ptacek came on board as our new Communications Manager, and Katie McNabb joined as our Program and Development Assistant. We were also very fortunate to work with talented Research Fellows this year on the Northwest Clean Energy Atlas, as well as the Net-Zero Northwest analysis: Claire Buysse; Mariah Caballero; Leslie Nguyen; Cassidy Quigley; and Jade Sauvé.

We also continued our partnerships with Evolved Energy Research (Jeremy Hargreaves and Katie Pickrell); 2050 Institute (Poppy Storm); Plumb Productions (Jessica Plumb); One Visual Mind (Carol Maglitta and Karen Beck); Caleb Smith; and Adair Business Consulting (Jessica Adair). We thoroughly enjoyed working with our new partner, BW Research Partnership (Phil Jordan and Mitch Schirch), on the NZNW Workforce analysis.

Gratitude and Request for Support

Last but most certainly not least, we acknowledge our generous funders. Foundation and corporate grants totaling $350,000 made the NZNW and SCALE 2030 projects possible this year. Without this support, that vital work would not have happened.

We are currently $100,000 short of hitting our 2023 individual donor target. As you think about your final charitable donations for the year, we hope that you will keep CETI in mind. We depend upon individual donor donations to cover a significant portion of our expenses. 

If you wish to contribute, you may either send checks to 4616 25th Avenue NE, #416, Seattle, WA 98105, or donate online. We are exceptionally grateful to all our funders and thank you very much for your support.

All of us at the Clean Energy Transition Institute wish you and your families a happy holiday season and a healthy New Year.