Community-Centered Rural Electricity

Institute for Energy Studies Speaker Series Presents: Community-Centered Rural Electricity

In the Global South and the Pacific Northwest

A rustic hut with a thatched roof and a solar panel. Bamboo fences surround the property, overgrown with lush greenery.

Event Details

When:

Tue, May 5, 2026, 4pm - 5:15pm

Location:

Online: Zoom

In-Person at WWU
Science Lecture, Room 150

Price:

Free

Brought to you by:

Institute for Energy Studies, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni

Description

Check out this video to watch the Community-Centered Rural Electricity in the Global South and the Pacific Northwest.

This talk focuses on the experiences working to scale deployment of community-scale renewable energy from internally displaced ethnic minorities in the Myanmar civil war, to rural villages in Africa, to a recent volunteer project developing a 150 kW solar project on the roof of Lopez Island school. The talk will explore territory and interactions between institutions of (electric) power and scrappy idealism.

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Featuring:

A middle-aged man with graying hair and a neutral expression, wearing a tan zippered sweater, stands outdoors with a blurred natural background.
Chris Greacen

Chris Greacen career started in the late 1980s writing for a do-it-yourself solar magazine started by weed-growing hippies in Northern California. For the past 18 years he has worked for the World Bank developing country programs and regulatory frameworks for solar mini grids in countries in Sub Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Along the way he got a Ph.D. in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley. Chris lives on Lopez Island.

Questions and Accommodations

  • Contact The Foundation for WWU & Alumni for this event if you have questions or need disability accommodations by calling (360) 650-3353 or emailing Alumni@wwu.edu.
  • Advance notice for disability accommodations and special needs is greatly appreciated. Please indicate your special needs on the registration form.
  • There will be auto-captions available for the Zoom webinar.

Visitor Parking at WWU on Weekdays

  • Mon-Fri, 7:00am-4:30pm: limited paid parking is available at the south C lots and north 6V and 7G lots.
  • Purchase your permit at the lot pay stations or use the Parkmobile app.
  • More parking details for campus visitors are available online.

Parking at WWU on Weekdays for Visitors with Disabilities

  • Mon-Fri, 7:00am-4:30pm: both a WWU permit and state disability placard are needed.
  • Purchase your permit at the pay stations in lot C or 6V or use the Parkmobile app (use Zone 1200). This allows parking in any disability space. If these are full, you can use a non-reserved space nearby.
  • More parking details for campus visitors with disabilities are available online.

The views expressed by our speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Western Washington University.

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