How developers can increase success with proactive communications

(Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash)

Contributed by Jason Sherman, president of SHERMAN communications & marketing

Many developers rely too heavily on land agents to not only secure needed acreage for the greenfield stage, but to help see a project through to permitting. Occasionally, developers will engage with the community. Talk to media. Make donations to local organizations. The more seasoned, strategic developers make proactive communications a priority.

Drawing from the 14 years my company and I have guided renewable energy companies through their struggles and mistakes, what follows is an overview of the vital role that strategic communications play in serving everyone’s best interest, what it looks like, and how to get management on board.

Developers’ dominant focus today

When developers have this three-word game plan – land, land, land – it’s often at the exclusion, and expense, of “Community” and “Engagement.” Of course, developers need to sign the 1,000 to 15,000 acres needed for a solar or wind project, respectively. Working with great land agents is an essential component of that process. Increasingly, however, developers are recognizing that getting the land is not nearly enough.

Join us at GridTECH Connect California, June 24-26, 2024, in Newport Beach, CA! With some of the most ambitious sustainability and clean energy goals in the country, California is at the cutting edge of the energy transition while confronting its most cumbersome roadblocks. From electric vehicles to battery storage, microgrids, community solar, and everything in between, attendees will collaborate to advance interconnection procedures and policies in California.

How many developers have had adequate land under control / signed leases only to walk away two, three, or even seven years later because of mounting opposition? Because of hold-out landowners? Because they couldn’t secure county approval? All this after having spent millions of dollars and dedicated thousands of staff hours. Thankfully, Illinois, Michigan, and a handful of other states are overriding local governments from blocking projects. But opposition can still delay or completely derail projects in these and all other states.

Three changes that demand developers change

Renewable energy (especially wind) has been politicized. Before people even learn what a wind or solar project is and what it means to them and their communities, polarization creeps in. This division amps up the NIMBY (“Not In My Back Yard”) mindset. And, it increases residents’ resentment about anything happening behind their backs that may impact their community and lives. So, communicate early and often to dispel fallacies and win trust.
Information is shared at lightning speed these days, including in rural communities. People meet in person and call each other. They text. And they post on social media. If something is happening in a community, the word gets out.
Opposition to renewable projects is organized, sophisticated, and relentless. It also often originates from outside these communities, exploits any weaknesses it can find with a planned project or developer, exaggerates or outright lies about the downsides associated with renewables, and doesn’t care about pitting neighbor against neighbor. In fact, that last item is often a central strategy to wearing down a community on a renewable project, regardless of all the economic and employment upsides. Here are just three of many articles making the case that big oil has a hand in funding groups and individuals fomenting opposition:

From a June 20, 2023 story from the University of Pennsylvania Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, titled: Unmasking Dark Money: How Fossil Fuel Interests Can Undermine Clean Energy Progress: “The fossil fuel industry uses anonymous ‘dark money’ contributions to fund misinformation about clean energy and promote nonrenewable resources, influencing legislation and elections and undermining a renewable energy transition.”
From a Dec. 11, 2023 article published by the Center for American Progress, The Oil and Gas Industry Is Behind Offshore Wind Misinformation. Its conclusion summarizes the central point: “The fossil fuel industry is financing offshore wind misinformation, with money flowing through interest groups, think tanks, and astroturf groups to achieve its ultimate goal of slowing, if not stopping, the expansion of offshore wind in the United States. Offshore wind is not actually bad for people or the planet; it’s simply bad for the industry’s bottom line.”
From a guest piece in Forbes from November 20, 2022, Fossil-Fuel Funded Opposition Is Blocking America’s Clean Energy Transition. Permitting Reform Can Help: “Unfortunately, proposed wind and solar projects have faced an avalanche of local opposition in recent years, often based on misinformation or outright fallacies. Opposition groups, following a playbook organized by a fossil-funded think tank, spread fallacies about impacts on wildlife, property values, health, and more, sowing fear and anger. Credible, peer-reviewed research refutes almost all of these spurious claims, but once the misinformation spreads, it’s often too late. That has slowed progress, killed projects, and made renewables more expensive, jeopardizing our ability to quickly transition to clean energy and mitigate climate change.”

Developers cannot afford to hope for the best regarding opposition. They need to make their case before opposition has sown distrust and anger via fear-mongering falsehoods.

Three benefits to community engagement

Builds trust via transparency – Of course an argument can be made that it’s easier to secure the land and then talk to the public vs. letting everyone know you’re there and then have to deal with possible opposition – and increased difficulty signing leases. I can’t guarantee which approach is best, but it’s easier to have a community trust you if you’re up front, early.
Proactively addresses concerns with incontrovertible facts – Ask constituents what they know about wind and solar – and if they have concerns, what those are. Then share appropriate facts/information to alleviate those worries.
Steals the opposition’s thunder – Clearly communicate what you’re doing, how wind and/or solar work, how they do and don’t impact the community, and what kinds of untruths opposition may deploy. In so doing, you: 1. Show these folks that they matter, that you respect them, and that their opinion matters, 2. Build an indispensable rapport, and 3. Help to inoculate them from the opposition’s (future) exaggerations and lies.

Five key initiatives to build effective engagement

Create a plan – A thoughtful roadmap that identifies your key audiences, challenges, objectives, opportunities, available resources, strategic approaches and more will help to make the best use of your time, money, and people.
Develop a messaging platform – Create compelling, consistent key messages about your project’s who, what, where, why, when, and how. Communicate with your audience in mind more than your company. Rather than what you want to say, What do they want to hear and understand?
Create and deploy essential tools – Utilize items like a website, social media accounts, detailed list of Q&As, testimonial bank, project/developer fact sheet, and more.
Identify and forge relationships with constituents – including school superintendents, media, local government officials, the business community, nonprofits, and civic groups.
Maintain consistent, candid communications – Host community open houses; create and publish a newsletter; curate a current email and mail list; and attend, sponsor and/or exhibit at local events to meet and greet folks.

How to sell this approach to your management

Like any good idea, this one could die on the vine without management buy-in. So make a good case:

Remind everyone about your success-to-engagement ratio. What percentage of projects with investments over $200,000 fail? Why? Is there a pattern? A connection to a lack of proactive communications and a lack of community support?
The old way is too expensive. If you don’t know already, determine the average amount spent on projects that don’t succeed in an average year. I know. It’s likely significant.
Communications support is a wise investment, especially when considering an average land agent costs $14,000 a month and you need two on-site for 12 months to secure land for a project (that’s $336k). Plus there’s the time and resources allocated for meetings, travel, time on site, and much more. Weigh that against the investment for effective communications ($5,000-$10,000/month for outside support). If you have internal communications experts, USE THEM!
Propose a budget and approach. Either request the communications talent and resources from inside your company or request a budget to retain a PR and marketing agency. By making a strong case, you’ll have a better chance of getting the support. And better communication leads to better results. After all, aren’t the three most important words today Land, Communications, and Results?

About the author

Jason Sherman is a seasoned PR vet dedicated to helping renewable energy companies improve their success with strategic communications. He founded SHERMAN Communications & marketing (www.shermancm.com) in 2002 after he worked for four global and regional PR/marketing agencies, a dot-com and RE/MAX Detroit Metro. While he’s helped more than 120 organizations, SCM’s work in renewables began in 2010 and has included supporting many large developers, solar panel manufacturers and trade groups. The firm leverages a wide variety of communications and marketing tools, and is laser focused on clients’ goals and desired results. Reporters who have worked with Jason know him to be highly responsive, in tune with what makes a great story, and a great conduit to informed sources and key information. Clients know Jason for being highly strategic, creative and focused on their success.