MSL Teams for HOW Project: Community Resilience Hubs

MSL is collaborating with New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) for The HOW Project, fostering clean and resilient energy deployments throughout IPL’s community. IPL works within a nationwide movement of communities of faith to respond to the existential crisis of climate change, which requires profound inner transformation and collective action.

In response to the climate challenge, the HOW Project focuses on decarbonization and community resilience in congregations throughout New Mexico. The HOW (Houses of Worship) Project’s name is also a mode of inquiry, for example:

• How can faith communities continue to lead efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
• How can they provide community resilience as climate impacts worsen, to care for our most vulnerable populations?

The HOW Project has two interrelated areas of focus: decarbonization through energy efficiency and renewable energy; and solar+storage community resilience hubs. IPL’s community in New Mexico includes approximately 100 “Covenant Partners” committed to the environmental stewardship mission, and a smaller number of “Cool Congregations” who are ready to undertake specific actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Community Resilience Hubs

Many churches, synagogues, mosques, and other faith-based community centers can embrace a deeper purpose for a renewable energy project by becoming a community resilience hub. These small solar+storage systems can sustain critical loads for vulnerable community members in the event of an unplanned utility outage or Public Safety Power Shutoff.

As climate impacts worsen, community resilience hubs are springing up throughout the United States, often located at the sites of community-based organizations that are mission-driven, including faith communities. Often these centers partner with local governments to provide services during stressors impacting the community (such as floods, heat waves, wildfires, and power outages). As these events become more common due to the climate crisis, these local resources are more needed.

Because community resilience hubs are able to provide their own power, they can open their doors to serve the community, as needed, such as when individuals need to cool down or warm up, charge essential medical devices or telephones, refrigerate medication, or access the internet.  When resilience hubs are not actively needed, they and their communities still derive benefit from their renewable energy generation and supplementation of broader grid resilience.

Immediate and Long-Term Actions

The HOW Project is in the process of selecting one initial site as a pilot project. From there, the plan is to gradually expand throughout New Mexico, and then to work with other interested states, ultimately leading to a national HOW network. Related projects have been launched in New Orleans (the Community Lighthouse Project of Together New Orleans, which seeks to locate resilience hubs within a 15 minute walk of all residents) and Georgia (a project of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Sixth District assisted by Georgia Interfaith Power & Light and advised by RMI), with an immediate goal of five microgrid resilience hubs in 2026 and an aspirational goal to reach all 482 AME churches in the state. RMI is also advising NM IPL and the HOW Project.