Rewiring America

Community-scale Electrification

OPEN TO RETURNING YALE GRADUATE/PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL AND RETURNING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

About Rewiring America:

Rewiring America is the leading electrification nonprofit, focused on electrifying everything in our communities. Our purpose is to make electrification simple, measurable, and inevitable. We are committed to using the best data and analysis to tell the stories of transformation and success that people will relate to, gravitate to, and want to join.

We are outcomes-oriented, focused on decarbonizing our world fast enough to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and to ensure that no household or community is left behind. Working backward from this goal, we know this is the decade that matters, and that our collective success over the next ten years winds through and depends on all of us.

We are signed up for the task of transforming the market and winning the decade. Every single retirement of any machine that runs on fossil fuels is an opportunity for electrification. No one knows how to do it exactly, and everyone will be joining this journey from a different place. We hope to be welcoming arms and a guiding light for the millions -- and hopefully billions -- of people who will take this journey with us.

Our values animate our work. They represent us in the world and with one another. They are our North Star for guiding our path over the next decade.

The opportunity:

Through our Rewiring Communities initiative, Rewiring America is working with a handful of communities across the country to launch residential electrification demonstration projects. We work hand in hand with community partners (local governments, community-based organizations, and utilities) to design and implement initiatives that seek to either fully or partially electrify the following end uses (space heating, water heating, cooking, and clothes drying) in homes. 

Through our Local Government Leaders for Electrification Coalition, we also create and provide resources to local government leaders on how to enable electrification in their communities. For example, the 2023 PSICE fellow produced a series of case studies (as well as a report) on community-led electrification projects around the US that local leaders can reference when launching electrification pilots and programs in their own communities. As of January 2023, we have identified 25+ examples of such community projects and hope to continue to build and update our existing case studies bank.

The 2024 PISCE fellow may work with the Community team on a number of projects based on the fellow’s skills and interests, including: 

  • Conducting research on workforce development and contractor training programs;
  • Researching and gaining expertise in braiding remediation, weatherization, energy efficiency, and electrification funding sources in our Rewiring Communities locations; 
  • Updating and expanding the community-led electrification case studies bank, as well as other policy- and implementation- focused resources for our coalition members.

The fellow can expect to work cross-functionally across our Communities, Research, and Policy teams at Rewiring America, and interact with external partners (local government officials, community-based organizations, contractors, and heat pump manufacturers) that are key to making community-scale electrification a reality.   

Location:

Rewiring America is a remote organization without permanent offices. The fellowship would be remote with most team interactions occurring virtually. 

How to apply:

Please submit:

  • your resume
  • a cover letter (no more than 2 pages) to include:
    • your interest in this project
    • any relevant background/experience
    • why you believe this work is important
    • share any important identity or identities you hold. Note that this is completely optional. Examples of identities that may be important to you might include (but are not limited to): gender, race, ethnicity, political affiliation, generation, education level, cultural identity, occupation, sexuality, family structure, housing status, mental health (health status/ability), incarceration status, institution affiliation, primary language, religion, immigration status, medical history, first-generation, income/ socio-economic class, quality of education, occupation, and/or parent's education.

Please submit the above directly to Rewiring America at valeria@rewiringamerica.org with “CBEY Planetary Solutions Internship Program in Clean Energy/Rewiring America” in the subject line. Please also copy cbey@yale.edu. 

Application deadline is 11:59 PM ET on Feb. 19, 2024.