IRESN is a network of pragmatic innovators working for better integration of renewable energy systems.

IRESN’s primary themes are local clean energy integration, local climate action planning, and more effective engagement between local jurisdictions and energy utilities toward resilient local energy supply and decarbonization of local energy systems.

Utility and building scale renewable energy deployment are being deployed at scale in California, but integrated community scale deployment remains a strategic gap. Over time it has became IRESN’s main focus. The need is to empower local energy transitions that decarbonise, democratize, decentralize, digitize, de-monopolize and increase local energy supply resilience. Meeting the need requires:

• Evaluating technology options according to life cycle cost

• Evaluating economic factors in a community context as well as project by project

• Envisioning future energy systems for cities and communities in the context of regional, building and transportation energy system innovation and infrastructure expansion

• Closer integration of local public services and resource uses, i.e. energy, land, water, waste and communications

• Accounting for on-going transitions in energy finance, delivery, demand and user behavior

IRESN was launched in 2013 as a continuation of the work of the the California Integrated Renewable Energy Systems (Cal-IRES) collaborative, which was created in 2010 as part of the California Renewable Energy Center. IRESN merged with and assumed responsibility for work of the California Alliance for Distributed Energy Resources (CADER) in 2016. IRESN’s board of advisors includes former CADER board members.