The Community Energy Model

Emergent Energy Group organizes and streamlines the predevelopment process for renewable energy
projects. By utilizing community-centric design and financing methods, we are able to significantly
reduce costs and lower the risk of project failure.

The Problem in the Industry

Despite a heavy financial push from state governments in New England, renewable energy projects are
not being built. In Massachusetts, after 10 years and over $300 million of public investment in the
renewable energy sector, we are seeing a 95% failure rate for proposed projects.

The failure of the system can be largely attributed to the massive community opposition projects see
during the permitting phase. Developers generally keep the design process out of the public eye,
preventing collaboration between the community and the developer. This results in projects that bring
with them high local impacts without any direct benefits.

Emergent’s Community Energy Model

Emergent helps renewable energy projects succeed in the real world. We have developed a 3 step
process that engages community members as stakeholders in the projects from the start, giving them
the opportunity to define the boundaries in which development within their town can occur and taking
an active role in making projects with positive and direct benefits a reality.

Step 1: Engage
Emergent starts a conversation through a collaborative management process, forming a governing body
made up of a representative group of community leaders. With this group Emergent determines which
technically feasible project opportunities will be supported by the community well before significant
money is spent by investors.

We have partnered with the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) out of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) to assist with this collaborative management process. Over the last 25 years CBI has
pioneered this consensus building methodology to facilitate collaborative decision making. We are
working with CBI to apply this methodology to our renewable energy development process.

Step 2: Incubate
Once a group of projects of varying technologies has been chosen by the community, Emergent works to
bring these projects from conception to completion, permitting and designing each project. Through this
process, community members are given the first right of refusal to invest in the lucrative pre-
construction stage of each project. At the conclusion of Step 2 we have a portfolio of projects that is
designed, permitted and ready for construction.

Step 3: Profit
Once a project is permitted and designed, Emergent brokers the sale of the project to an Independent
Power Producer, a firm that builds, owns and operates the project over the long term. Emergent and
other local stakeholders can either take an upfront fee for their equity ownership or keep along term
revenue stake in the project, profiting together.

Advantages of our Community Energy Model

Increased Efficiency of Pre-Construction Capital
Potential projects without community support are eliminated early. We don’t waste money designing
and permitting projects that will never get built due to community opposition. By investing a little more
upfront to engage the community, Emergent ensures that a majority of funds go towards projects that
have a high chance of being built.

Shorter Development Timeframe

Securing the local building permit is often a dragged out process that includes angry community
members, ambiguous facts, and ultimately lawsuits. Through CBI’s joint-fact finding process, Emergent
facilitates healthy and rational debate around a set of ‘truths’ that are agreed upon from the start. This
sets up a more efficient process that will reduce cost and time for all stakeholders involved.

Local Economic Growth

In a time where rising taxes, dwindling public funds and bankrupt communities have become
commonplace, local renewable energy projects have emerged as a proven method to bring prosperity
back where it belongs – the local communities and towns. Emergent provides municipal governments,
businesses, and residents with capital-efficient and cost-efficient access to natural and local renewable
energy, which can lower energy costs, improve local business profitability and revitalize our
communities.