Across the US, communities are facing fast-moving energy affordability crises while navigating an increasingly complex policy landscape. Yet many solutions already exist, developed through the organizing, advocacy, and ingenuity of communities across the country. Now more than ever, it is critical to leverage what we know works to protect and improve the lives of the many households struggling to keep their lights on. Just Solutions, working alongside partners and advocates, has compiled solutions and is now making available a groundbreaking Affordability Policy Library to help expedite state-level action. Join us on January 21 for a webinar to introduce the tool and explore how it can support real-world advocacy and campaigns.

Over the past year, Just Solutions has worked closely with state climate justice organizations stretching from California to Michigan to New York to Minnesota to examine how energy affordability challenges are playing out across different policy and regulatory contexts, and to surface the strategies states and communities are already advancing in response. That work has helped identify shared drivers of unaffordability, highlight promising legislative, regulatory, and programmatic approaches, and capture early lessons from implementation.

Just Solutions’ Energy Affordability Policy Library is a centralized, searchable hub that helps communities to more quickly assess, compare, and advance state and local energy affordability policy concepts, including both electricity and methane gas. Building on our Pathways for Action Framework, the Library goes deeper into dozens of concrete policy solutions, from direct relief for households to strategies that address the structural drivers of energy unaffordability. 

Each policy entry includes:

• An overview of the core problem the policy is aiming to address
• Key model policy features and equity-centered design considerations
• Potential pitfalls and implementation risks
• Examples from other state and local governments where these tools are already in use, including what went well and where these policies fall short
• Complementary policies that can strengthen impact

This Library reflects the real questions, gaps, and needs raised by state and national partners and their networks across the country and is designed to be practical, flexible, and grounded in lived policy experience. Additionally, it offers a shared reference point to help advocates:

• Identify which policies can be pursued through legislative, regulatory, executive, or ballot pathways
• Match policy tools to specific affordability challenges and political contexts
• Understand where existing policies fall short and how they can be strengthened
• Ground advocacy and coalition strategy in real-world examples and case studies

In short, the Library can be used to support both immediate advocacy needs and longer-term strategy development. These are thorny problems — reach out to us and we can work with you to get started!

How to use it:

A short navigation guide is included on the site to help users explore the tool, understand how policies are organized, and identify relevant pathways based on their state or local context. 

Use the Library today to: 

• Inform 2026 agendas by surfacing a range of equitable affordability tools.
• Find examples from other states and learn from their successes and challenges.
• Bring more structure and clarity to internal coalition discussions.

From Framework to Action: Using the Affordability Policy Library in State Advocacy

To support partners and communities in using the Library, Just Solutions is hosting a webinar on January 21 1:00–2:30 pm ET / 10:00–11:30 am PT  that will recap our affordability framework that underpins the library. Together, we will: 

• Walk through key features of the tool and how to navigate it
• Share examples of how advocates can apply these policies in practice
• Create an open space for discussion about how the Library can support ongoing affordability work. 

This webinar is open to advocates and partners working on energy affordability issues, and we encourage participants to share the invite with their networks, coalitions, and alliances. Please register here.

This Library is designed to grow with the movement. New policies, lessons learned, and state examples will be added on an ongoing basis so it can stay responsive to what communities need. Additionally, we have other energy affordability resources and information available on our website.

We are deeply grateful to the partners who shared feedback, ideas, and policy insights throughout the development of this resource. Your contributions shaped this library, and we look forward to continuing to build it together.