Decision Support for States

NREL technical experts provide unbiased information on energy efficiency and renewable energy policies and issues for state and local government decision makers. 

Energy Planning Decision Support

Engage Energy Modeling Tool

Engage™ enables state, local, and tribal governments to visualize their communities' energy futures. Built on a proven open-source energy modeling framework, it facilitates custom energy system planning, simulation, and data management based on user-supplied data sets.

Visualize your energy future with Engage.

For more information about fee-based technical assistance for Engage configuration and visualization, please contact engage@nrel.gov.

Hawaii Advanced Visualization Environment Nexus

Under a U.S. Department of Energy competitive grant, NREL is supporting the Hawaii Advanced Visualization Environment Nexus (HAVEN) project, through combining Engage and HAVEN to envision Hawaii's energy future. To learn more about HAVEN, visit the Hawaii State Energy Office website.

Accelerating Clean Energy at Scale

Through Accelerating Clean Energy at Scale, NREL works with communities and states to translate their clean energy ambitions into actions, supporting the transition to clean, affordable, equitable, secure, and resilient energy systems.

Solar Decision Support

NREL provides direct decision support to state and local governments on matters that require solar market expertise to answer a time-sensitive question or provide expert testimony on policy best practices. See our current and past projects.

NREL experts present webinars that target state and local policymakers.

Solar 101: These webinars provide an overview of policy and program actions that stakeholders can implement to support solar markets.

Solar Hot Topics: The webinar series featured five events focused on current market issues including an overview of solar technologies, resources, and the role that state and local governments play in supporting the development of those resources.

DIY Solar Market Analysis: These four webinars empower policymakers to develop local solar markets using various online tools, such as PVWatts and the Community Solar Scenario Tool.

State Clean Energy Employment Projection Support

State decision makers can gain insight on employment growth potential in four clean energy applications: grid-connected battery storage, land-based wind energy, solar photovoltaics, and utility program energy efficiency. Learn about our state-by-state employment projection analysis and support.