Georgia's energyshed the project will address the growing disconnect between traditional energy planning conducted at the state and utility levels, and individual energy decisions made at the…

Georgia's energyshed the project will address the growing disconnect between traditional energy planning conducted at the state and utility levels, and individual energy decisions made at the household, business, and community levels. G-shed seeks to bridge this GAP by involving diverse community members in energy planning, and by supplementing these decisions with comprehensive analytical tools. The georgia energyshed, or g-shed, will develop a metropolitan energy planning organization that will be informed by an integrated modeling effort including technical, social, and community inputs. The team will conduct a series of simulations and use cases to assess the benefits, costs, and impacts of a variety of energy futures. The findings will be translated for a range of technical, civil, and policy-making stakeholders. The guidance will consider existing control authorities such that implementation can be made feasible and actionable, and that beneficial outcomes can be verified. The team will integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into the modeling process, stakeholder engagement, and community outreach. The team will develop first-of-a-kind simulations that combine technical energy data with diverse community input. The team will broadly share the methodologies and findings, creating a user-friendly dashboard for non-technical groups. The tools developed aim to accelerate the deployment of technologies, policies, and business innovations that can create a cleaner, more equitable, and more resilient energyshed. The expected outcomes include 1) a comprehensive energyshed toolkit and a compendium of simulated outputs; 2) a series of periodic reviews to help users and decision-makers interact with the simulation tool and the output scenarios; and 3) meetings with stakeholders to understand the potential implications of the simulated outputs and to discuss potential follow up actions to implement on findings in ways that benefit a wide range of citizens within the atlanta regional commission 11-county metro area. The georgia institute of technology (GT) is the lead organization for this proposal, joined by two partners, the atlanta regional commission (ARC) and the southface institute (southface). The region of study is comprised of the city of atlanta and 11 surrounding counties. The work will implement sustainable, equitable, and scalable solutions in a diverse range of homes, workplaces, and communities.