The Future of American Energy Depends on the Communities That Host It

After more than forty years advancing energy projects across five continents, I have learned that the work of developing, financing, building, and operating power is never only about technology or capital. It is about people and the communities where they live and work. From gas turbines across Europe or Canada to solar and storage projects in Africa or the United States, one lesson has been constant. Energy projects succeed when the communities that host them feel respected, informed, and included. That also means that the communities have input into a project and receive material benefits for hosting a project.

That belief has only grown stronger over the past two decades as I have focused on renewable energy and storage. While the technologies have evolved, the reality on the ground has not. Every project we build sits in a real place, surrounded by real people whose daily lives can be significantly affected by what we do. Community engagement is not a nice gesture or only performed “if necessary.” It is a structural part of all project development, essential for any energy project built on American soil or anywhere in the world.

This work must start at the top of an organization. I often tell teams that there are two core responsibilities leadership must champion and model relating to community engagement. Without them, community engagement collapses into a checklist instead of a lasting commitment.

First, we must embrace a community first mindset.

Community acceptance is not a hurdle to clear or a problem to solve. It is trust that must be earned through integrity, transparency, and genuine respect by action initiated early in each project’s development cycle. Developers are initially guests in the communities where we work, hoping to build the trust that allows us to stay to implement and operate a project for decades. The landowners, farmers, and neighbors who live there are not abstract stakeholders. They are families with histories, values, and priorities that critically matter.

Listening is a key part of this mindset. Engagement is not a one-way broadcast. It means asking questions, hearing concerns and recommendations, and integrating local insights into project design when it is feasible to do so. Local residents know the land and their neighbors in ways developers never will. They know the history of the land use, the access points that flood, wind patterns, and the relationships that shape local decision-making. Ignoring that knowledge does not only damage trust, it weakens the project itself.

Community engagement also must continue long after the first town hall or zoning meeting. This is one reason I have always been a strong supporter of the develop, own, operate model. We do not walk away when construction ends. We remain neighbors for decades. Our promises must hold through every phase, from early outreach to decommissioning.

Arevon’s Community Relations team likes to say that “we show up.” It sounds simple, but it requires commitment, time, and humility. Showing up means attending local events, visiting schools, sitting with county leaders, and answering questions even when the answers are complicated. It means being present before a permit is on the table and long after the project is operating. Showing up builds trust. There is no shortcut around that work.

Second, leadership must commit to investing real resources.

A sincere community strategy cannot run on good intentions alone. It takes people, expertise, and funding to do it well. That doesn’t mean just funding for consultants and communication plans, it means making active and significant investments in community programs important to the residents. I saw the positive effect of this in late 2021 when we launched the Lightsource bp’s first dedicated internal Community Relations team. At the time, few solar development companies were making that level of investment. At the time, few solar development companies were making that level of investment. But it was needed, and it paid off in billions of dollars of investments in successful projects.

When I joined Arevon as CEO in 2023, strengthening community engagement was one of my top priorities. Over the past two years we have expanded our Community Relations team dramatically to what I would consider best-in-class. We have also committed to allocating a portion of every project’s capital cost to community investments as a required part of each project’s development, construction, and operating budgets. This ensures that engagement is not treated as optional or variable. It is built into the fabric of how we develop projects.

At Arevon, our community investment strategy focuses on three pillars. We help address food and housing insecurity. We support education, especially STEM programs that open pathways for the next generation of innovators, including support for solar installations that directly benefit local schools. We also promote public health and safety through partnerships with first responders, emergency services, and local health initiatives.

Even with these pillars, we never assume we know what a community needs. Every community is different. Effective philanthropy requires listening, transparency, and a willingness to let local leaders guide us. If the community says the priority is playground equipment, improvements to their clean water system, or a vocational program at the high school, then that becomes one of our focus initiatives. The goal is not to impose solutions. The goal is to support what the community itself believes will strengthen its future.

Why this work matters.

Through the years I have seen what happens when community engagement is done well and, unfortunately, when it is not prioritized. Engagement strengthens projects in ways that are measurable and practical. It also strengthens our team’s commitment to developing a successful project.

Many energy projects that stall or ultimately fall through do so because communities were not engaged early or sincerely. Community engagement reduces the risk of project failure and also identifies early when a project isn’t going to be a good fit for that community.

• It makes projects better. Locals understand their land better than anyone. Their knowledge can lead to stronger designs, improved layouts, or solutions that planners would never identify on their own.
• It builds trust. Openness about the project, the timeline, the benefits, and the challenges creates transparency. Communities do not expect perfection. They expect honesty.
• It ensures benefits are real. Engagement helps direct resources to the places where they can create lasting positive change, especially for residents who are often overlooked.
• Most important, it builds long-term support. When communities feel heard and respected, they become partners in the work. That partnership accelerates approvals and strengthens operations for decades.

A closing thought.

Energy projects are not built in spreadsheets or boardrooms. They are built out in the open in towns, counties, and rural landscapes where families raise children and shape local traditions. If we want to build America’s energy future, we must do it with communities, not around them.

I have spent four decades developing and building all types of energy projects in more than half of the U.S. states and in a dozen countries. The landscapes have changed. The technologies have advanced. But one truth has remained constant. The projects that endure are the projects that earn trust in the community. And trust is built through engagement that is genuine, consistent, and grounded in respect.

That is the work. And it is some of the most important work we will ever do.

This is Arevon
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Author: Kevin Smith

Chief Executive Officer