Clean Coalition

What Clean Coalition does

Clean Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2009 by Craig Lewis (originally as FIT Coalition) that operates at the intersection of clean energy policy design, regulatory advocacy, and project development. The organization develops and publishes technical-economic methodologies, including the Value-of-Resilience VOR123 framework, the Solar Mapping Methodology (SMM), and the Energy Tetris, and maintains the CLEAN Program guide, which collectively provide standardized approaches for evaluating and deploying distributed renewable energy resources.

Its primary constituents are investor-owned utilities, public utilities (SMUD, LADWP, LIPA, Georgia Power, PSE&G among named partners), municipal governments, and state regulatory bodies. The organization is an active participant in proceedings at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Energy Commission (CEC), California Independent System Operator (CAISO), California Air Resources Board (CARB), and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and has extended into plug-in solar for renters through the Plug-in Solar Initiative. It maintains offices in California and Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The business model is donation-based nonprofit funding, supplemented by philanthropic grants (including long-standing support from the Schmidt Family Foundation) and project-related engagements. Go-to-market is policy and partnership driven: the organization publishes frameworks, testifies and files in regulatory proceedings, runs webinars, and participates in industry events such as RE+ Storage. Revenue is not disclosed; operating scale is implied to be modest, with a small named management team.

Name

Clean Coalition

Legal name

Clean Coalition

Website

https://clean-coalition.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Clean Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2009 that designs clean local energy policies, methodologies, and project frameworks for utilities, municipalities, and state governments, with deep regulatory engagement across CPUC, CEC, CAISO, CARB, and FERC.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Clean Energy Policy & Program Design

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Civic and Social Organizations (81341)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Electric & Other Services Combined (4931)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Microgrids (Neighborhood, Municipal, Cooperative) (EUAFAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Decarbonization Strategy & Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) Advisory (EUABAKAC), Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) / Municipal Aggregation Retail Supply (EUAGABAF), Interconnection, Permitting & Grid Services for DERs (EUAMAJAH), Resilience & Backup Power Solutions (Critical Facilities, Islanding) (EUAMAJAK)

Keywords

• Clean energy advocacy
• Community microgrid development
• Feed-in tariff design
• Renewable energy policy
• Distributed energy resources

Headquarters

HQ city

Menlo Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Clean Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (Tax ID: 14-1901877) that relies on donations from individuals, family foundations, and other supporters to fund its mission. The organization accepts cryptocurrency donations as a tax-efficient giving option for donors.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Clean Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that accelerates the transition to renewable energy and a modern grid by designing Feed-In Tariff and CLEAN Programs, developing Community Microgrid projects, conducting Solar Siting Surveys, providing policy advocacy at CPUC/CEC/CAISO/CARB/FERC, and producing methodologies such as VOR123 (Value-of-Resilience) and the Energy Tetris Framework. Its work is delivered free of charge to communities, municipalities, utilities, and state governments through direct engagement, regulatory filings, and downloadable program guides.

Product overview

Clean Coalition is a clean energy advocacy organization (501(c)(3) nonprofit) rather than a traditional product company. Its offerings consist of advocacy programs, policy tools, and planning methodologies designed to accelerate the transition to renewable energy and modern grids. The core portfolio includes the VOR123 (Value-of-Resilience) methodology for quantifying community resilience benefits, the Resilient Energy Subscription (RES) financing mechanism, and the Community Microgrid Initiative which encompasses multiple specific microgrid projects. Supporting these are the CLEAN Program Guide (a comprehensive 7-module toolkit for implementing Feed-In Tariffs), Solar Siting Surveys for identifying solar potential, and the Energy Tetris strategic planning framework. The organization also provides FOM (front-of-meter) procurement and interconnection technical expertise. Clean Coalition does not offer a software product in the traditional sense—all offerings are advocacy programs, policy frameworks, planning tools, and educational resources aimed at policymakers, utilities, municipalities, and communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• VOR123: Value-of-Resilience A standardized methodology for quantifying the resilience benefits provided by Community Microgrids at any facility, enabling communities and facilities to make financeable decisions about microgrid investments.
• Resilient Energy Subscription (RES) A subscription-based financing mechanism for Community Microgrids that enables communities to fund resilient energy infrastructure projects.
• Community Microgrid Initiative A program that designs and stages Community Microgrid projects that provide economic, environmental, and resilience benefits to communities, encompassing multiple specific microgrid projects across California and the U.S.
• Solar Siting Surveys Analysis and planning tools that identify the value of clean local energy by mapping potential solar installation locations in communities.
• CLEAN Program Guide A comprehensive guide with seven modules covering how to design and implement CLEAN (Clean Local Energy Accessible Now) Programs, including market-based Feed-In Tariffs with streamlined interconnection. Available as downloadable PDFs.
• Feed-In Tariff (FIT) Program Design Policy and program design services for Feed-In Tariffs that enable streamlined deployment of local renewables through market-based pricing and simplified interconnection processes for utilities and municipalities.
• FOM Procurement & Interconnection Services Technical expertise in front-of-meter (FOM) or wholesale distributed generation procurement and interconnection processes, helping plan for more FOM projects on the grid.
• Energy Tetris Framework A strategic planning framework that separates total demand from net demand to effectively match available clean-energy blocks to the right load, in the right place, at the right time, before asking ratepayers to fund additional costly infrastructure projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• Gainesville, FL grew solar PV capacity by 5,300%+ and created 300 jobs with energy price increases under 1% through FIT implementation
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Climate CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 July 2026Clean Coalition was a partner organization for The Climate Center's Transportation Fuels Transition Plan webinar on July 23, 2026, working together to advance California's transition away from fossil fuels in transportation.
• The Climate CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 August 2025Clean Coalition was a partner organization for a webinar on Advanced Geothermal in California, co-hosted with The Climate Center to discuss opportunities and challenges with Advanced Geothermal Energy Systems.
• RE+ EventscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 July 2025Clean Coalition was a partner organization for RE+ Storage 2025, the premier gathering for energy storage developers, integrators, manufacturers, suppliers, utilities, and grid operators focused on storage safety and grid integration.
• Business SwedenminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 May 2013Clean Coalition and Business Sweden co-hosted the 'Swedish Innovation and the California Smart Grid Revolution' seminar in San Francisco, facilitating knowledge exchange between Swedish and U.S. smart grid players on best practices, business models, consumer engagement, and smart grid technology trends.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Environmental Defense Fund (EDF): Large environmental advocacy organization with significant climate and energy program activity. Overlaps on policy advocacy for clean energy deployment and grid modernization but with vastly greater resources and broader environmental portfolio.
• Sierra Club: Large environmental organization with Beyond Coal/100% Clean Energy campaigns that overlap with Clean Coalition's renewable energy deployment mission. Operates at national scale with established advocacy infrastructure that dwarfs Clean Coalition's.
• Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Major environmental advocacy organization with deep climate and clean energy policy engagement across federal and state levels. Much larger in scale and budget, operating across many issue areas including the clean energy programs Clean Coalition focuses on.

Emerging players

• World Business Academy: Sustainability-focused nonprofit where Ben Schwartz previously worked as a researcher/producer. Operates in adjacent clean energy and policy research territory in California, with comparable small-team nonprofit structure.

Direct peers

• Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC): National nonprofit focused on clean energy workforce, regulatory, and interconnection policy. Highly comparable mission with overlapping focus on interconnection reform and distributed energy resources that mirrors Clean Coalition's FOM interconnection work.
• Vote Solar: State-level solar policy advocacy nonprofit that works on rate design, net metering, and distributed solar policy across multiple states. Highly comparable mission and constituency (utilities, regulators, municipalities) to Clean Coalition.
• GRID Alternatives: Nonprofit focused on solar access for underserved communities through workforce development and project deployment. Shared mission-driven nonprofit structure and community renewable energy focus, though with more direct installation activity.
• Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI): Clean energy think tank that produces analytical frameworks and policy advocacy on DERs, microgrids, and grid modernization. Operates at higher scale and broader scope but addresses the same clean-energy transition subject matter.
• The Climate Center: California-focused climate policy advocacy nonprofit pursuing ambitious state-level climate action. They are a documented Clean Coalition webinar partner and operate in adjacent clean-energy policy territory with similar advocacy approach.

Others

• Sunrun: Leading residential rooftop solar installer with active advocacy arm working on distributed solar policy at state legislatures. Not a direct nonprofit peer but operates as a downstream beneficiary and adjacent policy advocate in the same ecosystem Clean Coalition shapes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/clean_coalition
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCez43yb4Q7Di_Gd9ycwQCug
• Facebookfacebook.com/CleanCoalition
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clean-coalition

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Clean Coalition