At a business park under development in northwest Colorado, the town of Hayden is revolutionizing its energy system by delivering low-cost heating and cooling to businesses through an innovative, fossil fuel-free energy system that is locally-owned.

Hayden is wresting control of its energy future thanks to thermal energy networks, or TENs, a state-of-the-art clean energy solution growing in popularity across U.S. cities. Unlike gas furnaces and water heaters, TENs use thermal resources — such as waste heat, lakes, rivers and the Earth’s underground temperature — and a network of interconnected pipes to efficiently heat and cool entire neighborhoods without fossil fuels.

Already, 12 states have passed legislation authorizing or enabling TENs projects, enabling cities and towns to gain democratic control over their energy systems while meeting climate goals.

TENs in the Trump era

While the recently passed federal budget bill includes several setbacks for cities and clean energy, there is some good news. The bill preserves two key provisions that support local ownership of TENs, so local governments’ can maintain control as they pursue a cleaner, more democratic energy future.

First, the bill maintains Direct Pay, a mechanism that allows cities, which are typically tax-exempt entities, to receive the full value of clean energy tax credits as a direct payment from the federal government. This provision enables municipalities to directly benefit from federal incentives without relying on complex tax equity financing.

Second, the bill upholds the 30% federal Investment Tax Credit for commercial clean-energy projects — including utility-scale solar, wind, standalone storage, nuclear, hydropower, and importantly, ground-source geothermal. To be eligible, these facilities must satisfy key requirements such as prevailing wage and apprenticeship rules and begin construction by 2033.

Together, these provisions create momentum for cities to invest in clean energy infrastructure. And TENs present a particularly promising path forward. A recent report I co-authored outlines how TENs present a unique opportunity to advance energy democracy: the process of empowering local governments and communities to control, govern and benefit from their energy system.

Local control, local benefits

By owning their energy systems, local governments can control their energy future, lower energy costs and create well-paying jobs. TENs allow cities and towns to circumvent their reliance on investor-owned utilities while meeting climate and energy goals.

Nonprofit agencies, public-nonprofit partnerships and community-owned initiatives are developing TENs projects across the U.S. In Chicago’s South Side, for example, the environmental justice group Blacks in Green is developing a community-driven TENs project that will provide clean, affordable energy to more than 200 households. The City of West Union, Iowa, owns a TEN which it leases to a user-run nonprofit LLC to operate, serving 12 buildings and delivering significant energy savings over natural gas.

These cases show that the benefits of energy systems don’t have to go to fossil fuel companies — instead, they can be directed straight to local governments and communities. And with greater control of energy systems comes greater benefits for local governments.

Municipalities have long felt that they had little oversight over many energy decisions, often being at the mercy of for-profit utility corporations. That’s starting to change as locally-owned thermal energy networks allow cities to chart their own energy future in a democratic way. That means a focus on ensuring that the energy infrastructure aligns with community priorities and serves the public instead of corporate interests.

For example, to meet its 2030 carbon neutral goal, the town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is exploring a thermal network that will serve 262 households, an elementary school, and nearby businesses via a newly created municipally-owned Sustainable Energy Utility.

Local control of TENs also allows governments to pass along the economic benefits of clean energy technologies directly to their residents. These systems are nearly six times more efficient than gas equipment, translating into lower operational costs and cost savings for consumers. Upgrading to clean heating and cooling also reduces reliance on fossil fuels that are subject to volatile price spikes, especially during peak demand periods.

The transition to TENs also creates a need for skilled jobs in engineering, construction and systems maintenance, providing new clean energy jobs and a just transition for impacted fossil fuel workers.

Locally-owned projects can prioritize hiring from underrepresented groups in the clean energy sector, supporting workforce diversity. Local initiatives can also support workforce training programs in communities that have historically been overlooked.

Power to the people

Of course, realizing these benefits requires addressing barriers that currently stifle local control. We need to reform pro-gas mandates that lead to wasteful spending on costly, polluting fossil fuels and prevent communities from accessing clean energy technologies. Local governments must be able to tap into financing and grants to lower the upfront costs of TENs development.

Equally important, local governments must share solutions and work with technical experts, policy makers and community organizations to address gaps in knowledge, community engagement and planning.

These challenges may seem daunting, but the benefits of locally-controlled energy systems are worth it. The ability to make decisions by and for the community, to secure lower energy cost, and to create a pipeline to clean energy careers will be best achieved when cities have control and ownership of the clean energy systems of the future.

The clean energy transition is not just about swapping renewables for fossil fuels. It’s about who controls and benefits from energy systems.

TENs are about giving power back to the people — not just the kind that heats and cools your home, but the kind that strengthens our democracy.

This post was originally published on Next City.