CLEAN Programs accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies by encouraging broad participation in the energy sector and incentivizing innovation, competition, and entrepreneurship. Local businesses, residents, and organizations can be energy producers, not just consumers, by building renewable energy projects on rooftops and parking lots. CLEAN Programs achieve significant levels of renewable energy because they deliver simplicity, transparency, and certainty for property owners, renewable energy developers and investors, ratepayers, policymakers, and utilities. This streamlines connecting distributed energy projects to the grid and guarantees that locally-produced energy will be bought by the local utility at a fixed price for a long duration.

Africa would benefit significantly from this market-based approach. Most importantly, a Program would benefit consumers and communities in Africa by reducing the need for expensive transmission upgrades, increasing local economic benefits (including job creation, financial circulation and investment), enhancing grid resilience, and fostering environmental sustainability.