California stands at a crossroads. The state’s energy system is tasked with meeting ambitious renewable production goals and decarbonization objectives. The federal and state governments have made historic levels of funding available to incentivize that energy transition and also increase demands for electrification through increased electric vehicle adoption, home appliance changes and other pathways.

Leading up to the October 2022 California Economic Summit in Kern County, CA FWD published a Call to Action focusing on the need for realistic, reliable and regionally centered solutions.

Throughout 2023, CA FWD hosted regional energy listening sessions with regional partners in the Sierra and rural forested communities, the greater Los Angeles area, the Imperial Valley, and Kern County, to hear from leading practitioners and those on the ground on what is working, where there are outstanding barriers and how to move California’s energy resilience forward.

This report summarizes the input received and lessons learned from these listening sessions across California. The regional summaries are then synthesized into findings and recommendations for moving California’s energy system forward equitably and expeditiously.