Community Benefits Resource Inventory

Community benefits are increasingly becoming principal aspects of conversations around clean energy in the United States. With the federal government and several non-governmental entities publishing information and guidance on types of community benefits and project agreements, a wide berth of resources is available online. These reports, guides, and toolkits provide valuable tools for developers, communities, advocacy organizations, and local municipalities. CATF has compiled a select list of resources on community benefits that can help bring clarity and context to this nuanced conversation.

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Publishing Organization	Resource Title	Description of Resource	Date Published	Primary Type of Agreement Covered	Clean Energy Technologies Covered	Other Energy and Non-Energy Infrastructure Covered
Non-Government
Clean Air Task Force	Community Benefits Programs & Clean Energy	The factsheet breaks down characteristics and structures of community benefit programs, provides examples, and discusses their importance in the clean energy transition.	Sept 2023	CBAs		No
Clean Air Task Force & BW Research Partnership	Community Benefits: A Survey of Perspectives from Three Communities	The report analyzes and compares survey results on community sentiment on CBAs from three communities: the Ironbound Community, The Navajo Nation, and the St. James Parish & St. John the Baptist Parish.	Nov 2023	CBAs		Yes
Data for Progress	Community and Labor Benefits in Climate Infrastructure: Lessons for Equitable, Community-Centered Direct Air Capture Hub Development	The report synthesizes results from a national poll Data for Progress conducted on how voters view CBAs and PLAs and their preferences for CBA programs and negotiation processes. The report also breaks down survey responses by political affiliation.	Jan 2023	CBAs, PLAs		No
Great Plains Institute	Community Benefits Agreements for Solar Development Resource Guide	Resource guide built to help local government staff and officials create community benefits agreements (CBAs) for proposed solar projects.	Feb 2025	CBAs		No
Initiative for Energy Justice	Community Benefits Policy and Energy Justice	This white paper overviews how community benefits can be delivered to communities through policies at local, state, and federal levels, and offers recommendations for policymakers.	June 2024	CBAs, HCAs, CBPs		Yes
The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)	Delivering Equitable And Meaningful Community Benefits Via Clean Hydrogen Hubs	This report overviews best practices, case studies, tools, and resources specific to DOE’s selected regional clean hydrogen hubs. Topics covered include community engagement, environmental justice, and community benefits.	Jan 2024	CBA’s, CBP’s		Yes
The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)	Community Benefits Catalog	This catalog provides real wold examples of funding criteria for federal programs realted to community benefits.	July 2024	CBPs		Yes
World Resource Institute	U.S. Clean Energy Projects Need Public Buy-in. Community Benefits Agreements Can Help.	The explainer discusses the importance of community benefits, summarizes four different kinds of agreements, and presents a list of what successful project agreements look like. The guide incorporates survey results from Data for Progress.	Aug 2023	CBAs		No
World Resource Institute	Community Benefits Frameworks: Shortcomings and Opportunities for Greater Impact	The article provides an overview of the frameworks, outline what is included in the database and offer key findings for improving these frameworks based on an analysis of the benefits-sharing agreements it contains.	March 2025	CBAs, HCAs, CBPs, PLA, GNA	Not specified	Yes
World Resource Institute	Database of Community Benefits Frameworks Across the U.S.	This database includes information pertaining to different types of publicly available community benefits frameworks, including community benefits agreements (CBAs), host community agreements (HCAs), project workforce agreements (PWAs) and community benefit plans (CBPs), amongst others	N/A	CBPs, CBAs, HCAs, PWAs
Academic
Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, University of California Berkeley	Offshore Wind & Community Benefits Agreements in California: An Introduction	The report considers the current status of California’s offshore wind industry and how to apply CBAs to the industry. The paper covers the legal framework for CBAs in Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Final Sale Notice and includes recommendations for Californian communities and developers.	June 2023	CBAs		No
Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, University of California Berkeley	Offshore Wind & Community Benefits Agreements in California: CBA Examples	This report provides a detailed overview of CBAs in the context of current BOEM offshore wind leases in Califonia. It also provides multiple case study examples of existing CBAs from varying contexts and geographies.	April 2024	CBAs		Yes
MIT Renewable Energy Clinic, Georgetown University	Georgetown Capstone: Community Benefits Agreements in Renewable Energy Siting	This research includes a database of community benefits from renewable energy projects, case studies, and state policy insights.	Oct 2023	CBAs, PLAs, HCAs		No
Columbia Climate School, Columbia University & Clean Air Task Force	Community Benefit Agreements: Case Studies, Federal Guidelines, and Best Practices	The report, created by Columbia masters students in their Climate & Society Capstone Project, includes a literature review, description of nine CBA case studies, and an overview of federal guidelines. The report also recommends practices for effective engagement and enforceability.	Nov 2023	CBAs		Yes
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia University	Community Benefit Agreement Database	The database compiles examples of community benefit agreements and other project agreements from renewable and non-renewable energy projects and some non-energy projects.	Sept 2023	CBAs		Yes
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia University	Expert Insight on Best Practices for Community Benefits Agreements	The report presents a list of recommendations informed by advice from experts in agreement negotiations, intended for developers and host communities in negotiating CBAs for direct air capture, among other renewable energy projects.	Sept 2023	CBAs		No
University of Rhode Island	Community benefit agreements for solar energy: Examining values, preferences and perceived benefits in the United States using a discrete choice experiment	This study examines community preferences regarding CBAs associated with large-scale solar farms. The investigation focuses on two critical CBAs aspects: the choice between mandated or voluntary implementation and the preference for private or collective benefit distribution. Additionally, the paper explores how individual values shape community members’ attitudes towards solar technology.	Dec 2023	CBAs		No
Government
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Department of Energy	Wind Energy Community Benefits Guide	The guide introduces the concept of community benefits and CBAs for decision-makers, local stakeholders, and developers and provides a list of examples.	2023	CBAs		No
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Department of Energy	Wind Energy Community Benefits Database	This searchable database reflects agreements, funds, donations, and other forms of benefits offered to communities by land-based and offshore wind energy developments in the U.S. compiled by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) from 2022 to 2024.	N/A	CBPs		No

Technologies icon guide:

Battery storage

Direct air capture

Electricity transmission

Hydrogen

Solar

Wind

Glossary – Types of Agreements

The following glossary provides definitions for acronyms used in the Clean Energy Community Benefits Inventory.
The definitions were sourced from the Department of Energy.

Acronym	Term	Definition
CBA	Community Benefits Agreement	“A ‘Community Benefits Agreement’ is an agreement signed by community groups or coalitions and a project developer, identifying the community or labor benefits a developer agrees to deliver in return for community support or workforce availability for a project….help ensure that measurable local benefits will be given to a community. They are enforceable, legally binding contracts for all parties. They typically specify responsibilities, reporting, and remedies.”
CBP	Community Benefit Plan	Community Benefit Plans are non-legally binding agreements created by developers in collaboration with community organizations, outlining developer’s commitments. “The Department of Energy (DOE) requires Community Benefits Plans (CBPs) as part of all Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) and loan applications. Community Benefits Plans are based on a set of four core policy priorities: Engaging communities and labor; Supporting quality jobs and workforce continuity; Advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility through recruitment and training; and Implementing Justice 40.”
PLA	Project Labor Agreement	“A PLA is a pre-hire collective-bargaining agreement with one or more labor organizations that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for a specific construction project. PLAs are permissible pre-hire agreements under section 8 (f) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(f)), which authorizes the use of these agreements between labor organizations and employers engaged primarily in the building and construction industry.”
CWA	Community Workforce Agreement	“A CWA is a PLA that includes community-oriented commitments relating to equitable workforce development, social justice, small business support and/or other issues. Negotiating a CWA brings building trades unions and the trades council together with the project user/owner, the general contractor, and community organizations to jointly develop the terms of the project.”