🔋Latest updates, incentives 💸, learning and upcoming events!
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Aerial view from downtown Wayland, MA.
Welcome to our October newsletter!
This month we’re excited to share updates on the recent launch of our Youth Climate Challenge and the third edition of Plug-In for Resilience—two programs that build momentum for stronger, more sustainable communities. Read on for details.
Fall tip: As cooler days arrive, it’s a good time to start preparing our homes to use energy more efficiently this winter. Take advantage of a free Mass Save home energy audit if you have not already!
And don’t forget, federal clean energy incentives remain available through December 31, 2025, making now a great time to take advantage by installing solar or electric heat pumps.
As always, please reach out to let us know what else we can be doing to support you or your community on the road to a healthier planet for all!
Get ready, MetroWest!
Our Plugin for Resilience is officially underway, thanks to a grant from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC).
This campaign is all about strengthening our communities against climate risks like extreme heat and energy insecurity. We're focusing on peer-led education and multilingual, culturally relevant outreach to make sure everyone - homeowners, renters, and landlords - can access the benefits of resilience upgrades.
We're working with communities in Acton, Ashland, Natick, Framingham, Sudbury, and Wayland to help residents adopt electrification solutions and other resources that reduce vulnerability and build long-term adaptive capacity.
In earlier PlugIn campaigns, the emphasis was on promoting clean energy solutions like heat pumps, home solar, and community solar to help households lower costs and cut emissions. With PlugIn for Resilience, we’re building on that foundation but shifting the focus toward resilience - making sure these clean energy solutions serve as tools for keeping families safe during extreme heat, reducing energy insecurity, and strengthening community preparedness.
How to Get Involved
Ready to build a more resilient community? Here’s what you can do:
Follow your local Energize community group on social media to get real-time updates and learn about upcoming events.
Subscribe to local newsletters to stay informed on the latest resilience resources and initiatives.
Visit the campaign website at pluginmetrowest.org for comprehensive information, guides, and tools to help you take action.
By working together, we can make our communities stronger and more prepared for a changing climate. Join us in building a more resilient MetroWest!
This is a reminder to get ready for the Youth Climate Solutions Challenge (YCSC).This is an exciting opportunity for high school students to lead impactful clean energy campaigns in their communities.
Important Next Steps:
To get involved and stay on track with the challenge, here's what you need to know:
Sign up for an informational webinar. The application deadline for your school team to participate is October 31, 2025.Be sure to register for one of the October informational webinars to learn more so that your school can apply:
Apply to Participate:Follow the link to have your school team apply. Once your school has applied, you will be notified if your team has been accepted by November 5, 2025. A team should have 2-4 students from grades 9-12 and one faculty advisor.
Attend topical webinars: In November 2025, we'll host webinars to help you with campaign planning and provide information on clean energy technologies.
Don't miss out on the chance to develop hands-on leadership skills, build teamwork, and promote climate action in your community with local partners.
Save the date for the coming Community Climate Leaders Conference 2026!
We are excited to announce our next annual conference, scheduled for April 8, 2026, at Bentley University in Waltham.
The conference is a great opportunity to be inspired, learn from each other, and support best practices for engaging our communities in climate action.
We Need Your Help to Make the 2026 Conference a Success!
Help us shape the agenda by sharing your ideas and suggestions for breakout sessions.
Breakout Session Proposals– If you or your organization would like to lead a session, workshop, or panel, we’d love to hear your ideas. Submit session proposals below.
Campaigns & Ideas to Share – Do you have a story, campaign, or approach others could learn from, but don’t want to run a full session yourself? Share it here! We may include your idea as part of a panel, showcase, or collaborative session.
With Social Media Magic, your community receives ready-to-post, best-practice content delivered straight to your social media channels.
This program gives you a consistent, professional presence with minimal effort, so you can focus more on engaging your community and less on creating content.
Here’s what participating communities receive:
Canva Proaccess with ready-to-use templates for eye-catching graphics
A scheduling tool to plan and post across up to three social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn
Pre-made posts from MassEnergize on sustainability topics, customized and scheduled for your community (with one week’s notice to review/edit before publishing)
So far, six MassEnergize communities have been onboarded and already putting their social media on autopilot.
Not currently a MassEnergize community but interested in this great initiative to support your audience? Reach out to us at info@massenergize.org to learn more about becoming a partner.
Thank you for joining us for our September Community of Practice meeting!
If you couldn’t make it, you missed an energizing evening of new tools, program launches, and community sharing.
Interested in learning more? Watch the recording and access slides and resources at the MassEnergize Resource Center.
Our next Community of Practice meeting will take place on Monday, October 20th at 7:15PM (note the later date - pushed back a week due to Indigenous People’s Day on Oct 13).
We’re excited to welcome Professor Zana Cranmer of Bentley College,who will present the Climate Tracker - a powerful and easy-to-use tool that shows communities, all in one place, the current installations of solar, heat pumps, and EVs. It also provides a useful tool for greenhouse gas inventories at the community / local level.
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