My PECE essay - standing for “Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography” - holds a unique position in both its construction and content. It’s titled “Community Renewable Energy Initiatives: Providing Green, Equitable Energy Through Disrupting Power Structures”, wherein I discuss the prospect of Community Renewable Energy (CRE) initiatives. These are socio-legal institutions that revolve around a community taking control of their energy production and consumption. This is done by severing their ties to the existing power grid and investing in an energy supply themselves, effectively eliminating the chance for those in the community to become subject to “energy vulnerability”; being unable to pay power bills, not using heat in the winter to save costs, etc. The members disrupt existing power structures through this act, potentially saving themselves from discriminatory energy grid practices and/or other energy-based factors that could hinder their comfort, safety, or health.

What I enjoy the most about this is that it isn’t an essay so much as a multimedia presentation. It’s a part of the larger Housing Energy research project that Prof. Ali Kenner began in early 2020, housed on an external site utilizing the PECE tri-column format. It features linking out to “artifacts” to accentuate the points being made, which could be videos or policy documents or otherwise supplemental information that better illustrates the point being made. This unique construction is in part why I find it crucial to include this essay – we had full creative ability towards how we wanted to tackle the format of it, and I’m proud of the way I pieced it together to best get the point across. This work example illustrates that I can both construct an evocative piece out of an essentially blank-check towards its format, as well as display – as mentioned before – philanthropic intent towards bettering communities globally. Given that it’s framed in the lens of providing “energy justice”, it falls neatly in line with my already communicated interests, with the distinct formatting and multimedia inclusion only further helping its cause.