Distributed Infrastructure as an Affordability Strategy

Whatever incentive cities, towns and utilities develop to help lower income populations adopt distributed infrastructure strategies at their homes or businesses, robust outreach and education to the community is essential.

Best practices for community engagement include:

• Partnering with local community groups
• Dedicated websites
• Social media
• Newsletters
• Training programs
• Local homeowners’ association workshops
• Demonstration site educational tours
• Targeted mailings and/or calls
• Bill inserts
• School curriculum material

If the target population for a low-income distributed income program includes communities where languages other than English are frequently spoken, outreach should be conducted in commonly spoken languages in the community. WaterNow Project Accelerators in Santa Rosa, California, and Walnut Valley Water District, California, are working to operationalize these practices in their communities.