Community Efficiency Leadership Coalition
The Community Efficiency Leadership Coalition (CELC), part of SPEER’S Local Government Program, is a collaborative network of Texas cities, school districts, and other public entities engaged in partnership and resource exchange to expand the adoption of energy management best practices in the public sector. The Community Efficiency Leadership Coalition supports cities of all sizes and school district energy management best practices. This membership is FREE and sponsored by State Energy Conservation Office (SECO).
The CELC began as a State Energy Conservation Office (SECO)-funded effort dedicated to bringing together local governmental and quasi-governmental organizations to share best practices, lessons learned, and resources to ease the burden of developing and supporting sustainability and environmental initiatives. The participating local governments and SECO acknowledge the value the CELC brings to communicating and collaborating to achieve environmental goals. The CELC will continue exploring new goal areas that allow participants to network, leverage regional resources, and share best practices to collaborate and achieve environmental and sustainability goals.
The purpose of the CELC is to:
- Align regional partner initiatives
- Leverage regional resources and share best practices
- Provide networking and capacity-building opportunities
- Identify funding opportunities for projects
- Provide mentorship
- Collaborate as a group on regional sustainability projects and initiatives
Administrative Support
SPEER provides administrative support as a fee-for-service program or cost-share program. Local governments participate in the program at no cost through the support of the State Energy Conservation Office. The CELC member’s time is utilized for in-kind donations to SECO.
CELC current year priorities:
The Fiscal Year 2022 Work Plan serves to establish regional collaborative efforts to engage local governments on a broader scale and foster peer exchange on critical topics, including, but not limited to:
CELC Benefits
- Joining a network of 1,000+ professionals
- Ten hours of technical assistance
- Access to templates for climate plans, support letters, and energy plans
- Resource-filled newsletters once a month
- Closed CELC LinkedIn Group for information sharing
- Opportunity to participate in a SPEER-sponsored ICELI Greenhouse Gas Cohort. The cost is free for CELC members with an equal value of $7,000.
- Invitation to participate in the CELC Training Development Cohort (limited to five local governments). The local governments who participate will have training provided to their staff.
- Invitation to participate in the CELC Resource Analysis Focus Group. The Focus Group findings will be shared with all participants and submitted to the State Energy Conservation Office.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who can participate? All local governments, including city, county, state, universities, the council of governments, and school districts, are eligible)
- What are the expectations of members? As CELC members, we ask for participation through attendance in CELC events for at least 10 hours a year. (Includes but is not limited to webinars, roundtables, cohorts, focus groups, and other events)
- Is there any cost? Participating in this council is FREE, sponsored by State Energy Conservation Office.
- Time commitment? At least 10 hours a year
- What would our role/responsibility be? As a council of government, provide perspective and guidance in your region’s goals, initiatives, and programs. Several programs we are rolling out may be of interest to your organization, but there is no administrative requirement.
CELC LinkedIn Group
As a CELC member, you have access to the CELC LinkedIn Group. The group introduces an opportunity for local governments to strengthen their connections with other agencies to share common skills, experiences, and goals on an online interactive professional platform. SPEER moderates this group through funding support from the State Energy Conservation Office. We will be posting upcoming events and potential projects. Click here to join the group.
Monthly Webinars
The CELC webinars are a great opportunity to engage with CELC between roundtables. Topics range from energy management fundamentals like Benchmarking, to emerging topics including Resilience Planning for Critical Infrastructure with Combined Heat and Power, and Energy & Equity.
Visit our YouTube Channel to view the CELC Webinar Playlist and browse our Events Calendar for upcoming webinars and CELC Roundtables.
Meet Our CELC Members!
Current CELC Members - 2026
- Alamo Area Council of Governments
- Allen Independent School District
- Austin Energy
- Austin Independent School District
- Capital Area Council of Governments
- CenterPoint Energy
- City of Austin Parks and Recreation
- City of Brownsville
- City of Corpus Christi
- City of El Paso
- City of Farmers Branch
- City of Fort Worth
- City of Frisco
- City of Longview
- City of Mesquite
- City of Richardson
- City of San Antonio
- City Of San Marcos
- City of Sugar Land
- Dallas College
- Development Services San Antonio
- EcoRise
- Edwards Energy Environmental & Waste Management
- Goose Creek CISD
- Harris County
- Houston-Galveston Area Council
- Humble ISD
- Lone Star College
- Mansfield Independent School District
- Mansfield ISD
- National Grid
- NCTCOG
- Pearsall ISD
- Tarrant County College
- Tarrant Regional Water District
- Texas PACE Authority
- Texas State University
- The University of Texas at Arlington
- The University of Texas at San Antonio
- Travis County
- Williamson County
- Williamson County Facilities Management