Connecting people, fostering innovation and accelerating impact. To help advance change in communities across the country, the Urban Sustainability Directors Network brings local government sustainability practitioners together to learn, collaborate and accelerate the work of local sustainability.

USDN is a peer-to-peer network dedicated to advancing the field of local sustainability by supporting more than 3,300 local government professionals from 330 communities across the U.S. and Canada that serve more than 118 million people.

As part of our commitment to creating equitable, resilient and sustainable communities, the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) strongly emphasizes supporting local government efforts to expand access to clean energy. Through partnerships with mission-aligned organizations, USDN delivers targeted programming—such as learning groups, mini-series and webinars—that helps members accelerate equitable, clean energy solutions in their communities. Some of our key initiatives include the Energy Equity Learning Group, Energy Utility Regulation Mini-Series, Emergent Learning Fund Clean Energy Projects and Solar Installation Projects.

Energy Equity Learning Group

USDN provides local government sustainability practitioners with numerous opportunities to gain knowledge, increase their skills and strengthen their ability to advance climate goals in their communities. Our programming helps members take impactful action to advance equity, resilience and greenhouse gas reduction efforts. The Energy Equity Learning Group supported more than 50 local governments through monthly calls on energy efficiency, affordability, rental, low- to moderate-income housing and more.

Energy Utility Regulation Mini-Series

Seeing an opportunity to support city and county advocacy efforts around energy policies and practices, USDN and the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network (SSDN), with support from the Regulatory Assistance Project, co-hosted the U.S. Energy Utility Regulation 201 mini-series. This series of trainings allowed more than 80 practitioners to dive deeper into opportunities for local governments to engage in utility regulatory processes, where they can play a stronger role in influencing the adoption of equitable sustainability regulations. Recent topics covered in the series included utility commissions, processes and structures, as well as the fundamentals of utility planning.

Emergent Learning Fund Clean Energy Projects

USDN also seized opportunities to scale proven practices and share insights with the broader network. For example, through our Emergent Learning Fund, we provided financial support to a group of stakeholders in Arizona to convene and develop a proposal to the Department of Energy (DOE) to create a shared model energy and green building code that addresses issues faced by communities in the southwest. USDN also provided the group technical assistance and support via our Federal Funding program during the application process.

The resulting application was awarded $3.5 million to establish the Resilient Southwest Building Code Collaborative, a collective effort to advance efficient, affordable, and resilient construction practices. The Emergent Learning Fund has provided local governments with hundreds of thousands of dollars to support action toward equitable sustainability goals. USDN continues disseminating best practices and lessons learned through this process to the wider network.

Solar Installation Projects

Accelerating Equitable Solar Energy in Communities is a two-year project recently completed through a partnership with USDN and communities in Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Sydney, Australia, that expanded access to solar energy in historically disadvantaged communities. This initiative focused on reducing emissions and lowering energy costs for income-qualified households and small businesses. By installing rooftop solar systems in these communities, residents and businesses have seen significant reductions in energy cost burdens and become more resilient to disasters and extreme weather events. This collaborative effort, guided by local partners and stakeholders, successfully deployed solar technology to improve energy affordability and equity while supporting broader sustainability initiatives in each city.

To learn more about our work, visit https://www.usdn.org.

• Grantee: Urban Sustainability Directors Network
• Location: Sanford, North Carolina
• Program: Environment
• Most recent grant amount: $800,000
• Year: 2025
• Purpose: General Operating Support