UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
Growing community capacity for a sustainable energy future in northern B.C.

UNBC School of Planning and Sustainability Associate Professor Dr. Sinead Earley is helping advance community-led energy leadership in the upper Skeena through the Community Energy Champion Mentorship program, an early project emerging from the Power for People research initiative.

Environmental and Sustainability Studies Associate Professor Dr. Sinead Earley is co-leading Power for People: Community Energy for Northern BC with researchers at the University of Victoria, in partnership with the Community Energy Association (CEA), the Northern British Columbia Climate Action Network (NorthCAN) and Skeena Energy Solutions.

The five-year Accelerating Community Energy Transformation (ACET) project builds on Earley's previous work with NorthCAN and her engagement with Indigenous, rural and remote communities throughout northern B.C.

The first phase began in 2025 and centred on a series of in-person community meetings to listen to area residents before scaling up with regional dialogues that brought communities together to think about their shared energy issues, priorities and aspirations. Findings from these Northern Regional Energy Dialogues highlighted two key areas for further work: capacity development and policy and planning.

One of the first projects to emerge from this work is the Community Energy Champion Mentorship Program in the upper Skeena. Derek Ingram, Energy Solutions Coordinator at Skeena Energy Solutions, first raised the idea many years ago. With support from Earley, it is now being piloted as an approach to strengthening local energy leadership.

As Earley explains in a feature story about the mentorship program, leadership is a key ingredient in the implementation of community projects.

"We heard from people in the upper Skeena region that sustaining community-oriented energy leadership is a major challenge," Earley says. "Derek suggested that we use this mentorship he'd envisioned as a pilot to support that leadership and create tools that can be shared with other northern communities that are struggling with similar challenges."

Read the full story on the mentorship program shared by the University of Victoria, including reflections on the impact of the initiative from the first mentee Ari Orrantia.

The mentorship pilot is one example of how the research is translating regional priorities into practical tools and opportunities that can help communities build their own capacity for a renewable energy future.

As the research moves into its second phase, a $2-million, four-year initiative supporting regionally-driven approaches to community energy, policy, and planning, Earley is leading projects in the capacity development stream.

"The reality is that renewables are here and they're going to be a big part of our future. And they are going to be the most successful if they are community driven, where there is local vision and ownership." 

She adds, "This is what exists in this case. Sure, there are barriers - financial, colonial - that I feel compelled to help these communities overcome. We need more time and resources dedicated to supporting this kind of sovereignty."