In the wake of blackouts, natural disasters, and catastrophes, we need solidarity more than ever. Vibrant and organized communities are the foundation of people-centered responses to the climate crisis. Backup power sources such as batteries, solar panels, and generators are expensive—and individualistic solutions aren’t very helpful in addressing our collective needs, especially in times of crisis.
That’s why Shareable partnered with People Power Battery Collective to create the Emergency Battery Toolkit to help organizers build strong and effective backup power supplies owned by local communities.
The toolkit is based on the work being done by People Power Battery Collective (a project of People Power Solar Cooperative), a self-organized mutual-aid collective in the San Francisco Bay Area, whose purpose is to provide backup electricity to support people who are facing power emergencies. Their project is a successful model of what an emergency battery network can look like.
Members of an emergency battery network safely keep backup batteries until there is a need for power in the community. In response to power emergencies, the person in need connects with the battery holder and arranges delivery. When the emergency passes, the person who received power will recharge the battery to share with the next person experiencing a power emergency, creating an ebb and flow of resourcing within the community.
This Toolkit, which is centered around the recordings of the 2023 SolidarityWorks Emergency Battery Co-Lab, includes all trainings and ‘office hours’ (edited into bite-sized chapters), summaries of each lesson (including key takeaways), graphic recordings, customizable templates, and other resources. In addition to the web version of the toolkit, there’s also an interactive PDF version.
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Free Download: “Emergency Battery Network Toolkit” |
We hope you’ll use this information to build an emergency battery network in your community. When you’re ready to launch, contact us (info@shareable.net) to get added to the (inter)national map!
