A new group to help US small towns lead the clean energy transition

Mondale Robinson, mayor of Enfield, North Carolina, a town of about 2,000 people, has launched a coalition meant to give small towns more clout in the clean energy transition. His National Conference of Small Cities and Rural Mayors is open to officials from places with fewer than 30,000 residents, a group the U.S. Conference of Mayors does not fully admit as members even though, Robinson notes, towns this size make up 93% of all incorporated municipalities and about 60 million residents nationwide. The new group is still recruiting its first 100 founding mayors and looking for foundation support, since Robinson says 90% of philanthropy goes to urban areas.

Enfield itself is testing what small towns can do with limited money. The town is working on a solar farm to power the whole community, a new substation to carry that electricity, and a thermal energy network — a shared underground system of pipes that would heat and cool buildings more efficiently and help lower electric bills. A nonprofit called Enfield Energy Futures has already won a small grant to pursue the thermal project, with help from lawyers and university researchers in nearby Chapel Hill and Durham.

None of this changes anything for homeowners outside Enfield right now. But it signals a push to bring more federal policy attention, outside funding, and shared expertise to small, often-overlooked towns working on clean energy and lower utility costs — the kind of place many readers may call home.