Local elected officials surveyed in Pennsylvania underestimate their constituents’ support for solar and other clean energy projects, according to research published August 1 in Nature Energy.

In their findings, based on survey responses from 894 Pennsylvanians and 206 policymakers from township, municipality, and county governments, the Princeton-led research team uncovered bipartisan support among Pennsylvanians for solar energy and other types of renewables when compared to a reference case of natural gas with carbon capture and storage. But when local elected officials were asked about the types of energy projects they thought their constituents would support, the officials did not believe they would prefer other types of energy projects to natural gas.

This gap between actual and perceived support for clean energy projects suggests a need for clear and honest communication between the public and their locally elected representatives, said first author Holly Caggiano, who performed much of the research as a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.

“The local official is so important to the energy transition,” said Caggiano, now an assistant professor in climate justice and environmental planning at the University of British Columbia. “State and national governments might be setting climate and energy targets, but most project-specific decisions are made at the local level.”