Outreach and Policy Intern

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Outreach and Policy Internship - Summer 2019 (flexible dates)

The NW Energy Coalition is an alliance of more than 100 environmental, civic, and human service organizations, progressive utilities, and businesses in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia. We promote development of renewable energy and energy conservation, consumer protection, low-income energy assistance, and fish and wildlife restoration on the Columbia and Snake rivers. The NW Energy Coalition and its members advocate a clean and affordable energy future for the region based on:

• Meeting all new energy demand with energy efficiency and new renewable resources.
• Full and fair accounting for the environmental effects of energy decisions.
• Protecting and restoring the fish and wildlife of the Columbia River Basin.
• Ensuring equitable and affordable clean energy services for all consumers.
• Informed public involvement in building a clean and affordable energy future.

This internship is unpaid. The Coalition will cover transit costs for the summer intern.

The summer intern will work with the Outreach Manager and will assist with membership engagement and conference promotion. The intern will also work with the Policy Director and some of the policy staff members to support the policy team’s work through research and policy advocacy.

Summer Intern Policy Work

• The Coalition’s policy staff work directly with electric and natural gas utilities, utility regulators, state agencies and community allies and stakeholders. We are working to expand investments and programs in energy efficiency, new renewable energy resources, energy services to increase energy affordability for all customers, and ward off programs and rate structures that discourage clean energy use and harm low-income customers. This summer we are working on a number of projects that the intern could help with. Depending on the interests of the intern we will assign appropriate projects.
• Some examples of projects the intern might work on:
  • Write a white paper on the issue of pre-payment meters - Some utilities in the NW and across the US have been offering a utility payment scheme that has a customer pay in advance for electric service. There is evidence that for customers who have this pre-pay meter, energy use does go down, however the reduced use is due to shut-offs rather than efficiency improvements. NWEC needs a whitepaper detailing how this billing approach harms customers and limits energy efficiency.
  • Develop and write a model utility resource plan - Utility resource plans can help lead toward more clean energy investments or they can show all the barriers to clean energy development. NWEC is developing a framework for a model resource plan that integrates all aspects of providing energy services to customers. The intern would work with policy staff to develop this model.
  • Research and write up possible performance metrics for utilities - State regulators are considering ways to incentivize private utilities to make more clean energy investments and discourage investments in natural gas plants. Performance metrics are key to setting the right incentives. NWEC needs to work with our allies to develop a set of performance metrics.

Summer Intern Outreach Work

• Membership Engagement
  • Individual members
    • Add new members to email lists
    • Send thank you letters to members and donors
    • Process membership data in our Salesforce database
    • Send renewal letters encouraging individuals to renew annually
  • Organizational members
    • Assist with engaging NWEC organizational members in the Coalition’s work
    • Make phone calls encouraging members to attend meetings
    • Attend networking and educational events hosted by NWEC organizational members

• Conference Promotion (Clean & Affordable Energy Conference)
  • Assist with recruiting sponsors and developing sponsor benefits package
  • Work with community partners to promote the event
  • Create promotional content to use in our newsletter, website and social media
  • Make outreach phone calls to our contacts to encourage participation in the event

• Various other tasks as needed

Desired Qualifications

• Clear verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent research and analysis skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite
• Passionate about energy and environmental issues
• Pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in a related field

Send cover letter and resume to Kat Plimpton at kat@nwenergy.org. In your cover letter, let us know how you found out about the position and why you are interested in clean energy policy advocacy.