News from BPRC’s Executive Director
December 2025
Hello and Happy Holidays!
For staff at the Building Power Resource Center (BPRC) and leaders of the 17 Building Power Network (BPN) partners, the importance of “inside-organizing” organizing has never been clearer. Because community-labor coalitions are building the political conditions from the “outside” while collaborating deeply with local government leaders on the "inside," we are making tangible progress for an equitable clean-energy transition—despite federal disinvestment. We are grateful to work alongside many of you to build a clean energy economy while also strengthening the muscles of democracy.
2025 Snapshot
BPN is making important progress with our “pilot and scale” approach. In California, Maine, Ohio, and Utah, our partners are making concrete plans to scale their building decarbonization work from one location to venues across their state.
Half of BPN partners will complete or have commenced construction on clean energy projects in 2025.
BPRC and BPN passed 5 resolutions in City Council or School Boards that have led to specific building decarbonization implementation plans.
BPRC coordinated or supported the completion of feasibility studies for 50 project sites on behalf of BPN partners.
BPRC received a 100% re-application rate from core partners. We also doubled the Building Power Network (BPN) to 17 partner groups working in 14 states.
Around this time last year, we knew the fate of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the clean energy industry faced an uphill battle, but the political reality of 2025 turned out to be even more challenging than many of us anticipated. Despite this difficult terrain, BPN partners continued to implement signature projects, win significant policy commitments, deepen co-governing relationships, grow their bases, and shape the narrative around energy, affordability, and healthy communities.
As we prepare to close out 2025, below are a few resources you might have missed from the BPRC team in the last 3 months. Since October, BPRC released 3 reports:
📑 Saving Millions and Cutting Emissions: Four Lessons from Salt Lake City School District’s Energy Transition. This report tells the story of how the Salt Lake City School District staff, students, and community leaders turned a bold clean energy resolution into action. This report goes beyond the headlines to explore how in five years, they installed 6,800 solar panels and are generating an additional $360,000 in annual energy cost savings from weatherization projects.
School district leaders, implementers, and community members from across Utah and the country are invited to learn directly from the people behind this work on a webinar on January 21, 2026, at 12pm MT.
📑 In partnership with 100% MN, Local Climate Action Plans in Minnesota highlights how climate action plans are an essential tool for scaling climate action, obtaining funding, and clean-energy project implementation. Inside this report, local leaders and advocates will find best practices for developing strong climate action plans and recommendations for how States can support local governments’ efforts for action plan development and implementation.
The report was featured in The Minnesota Reformer that was syndicated in Patch and MinnPost.
📑 In partnership with Labor Network for Sustainability, Bargaining for Green Schools, Good Jobs, and Bright Futures explains how teachers unions are using the common good bargaining process to win green schools and good jobs. The report shares case studies and best practices for union members organizing to win “common good” climate demands in their contracts.
The report was featured in Politico’s newsletter and in the The Hechinger Report, which was republished in Grist.
BPRC and BPN partners have big plans in 2026 to scale the work. If you’d like to learn more, we’d love to schedule a time in the new year!
In solidarity,
Yong Jung
