Fresh Energy is pleased to announce that Shubha Harris has joined our team full-time as Chief Equity Policy Officer, transitioning from her role as Equitable Energy Policy Consultant. In this new position at Fresh Energy, Shubha will join the Executive Leadership Team and lead Fresh Energy’s efforts to ensure Minnesota’s clean energy transition happens equitably, with a focus on centering voices that have historically been left out of energy decision-making. Get to know more about Shubha and her new role!
New role will infuse equity across all of Fresh Energy’s work
If you were to meet Shubha at a neighborhood summer picnic and asked about her job, she’d tell you it’s to make sure under-resourced Minnesotans are heard in our energy decisions. More specifically, her role holds primary responsibility for setting and achieving equity goals at Fresh Energy, rooted in our Guiding Principles and Core Values for ambitious decarbonization, equitably-distributed benefits and burdens, reduction of racial and economic disparities, broad and inclusive participation in energy decision making, attention to public health, and internal accountability that ensures Fresh Energy is living our values.
As Chief Equity Policy Officer, Shubha’s role directly aligns with Fresh Energy’s mission to shape and drive bold policy solutions to achieve equitable carbon-neutral economies. “To date, the energy system has been shaped by a relatively small group of stakeholders and decision makers,” Shubha explains. “Everyone is impacted by the energy system, but not everyone is included in the decision-making. I hope to bring the voices and needs of under-resourced Minnesotans more squarely into focus.”
Shubha joined Fresh Energy as our Equitable Energy Policy Consultant in early 2024. She previously worked as an attorney in a variety of roles, both in private practice and more recently as a Regulatory Attorney for Xcel Energy. At Xcel, she represented the utility at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on their Integrated Distribution Plans, performance-based ratemaking, cost recovery for smart meters, and co-led the Equity Stakeholder Advisory Group.
Shubha’s new role at Fresh Energy will focus on better understanding how the energy system impacts different communities and ensuring it represents and works for everyone, not just a select few groups. A key part of this will be to ensure Fresh Energy’s holistic commitment to equity across the entire organization by working closely with staff to align and strengthen our internal equity efforts: helping teams stay connected, supported, and accountable in embedding equity into all aspects of our work.
She has identified three primary areas of focus in her new role:
Ensuring equitable energy rates: A top priority is recognizing that higher-income households generally spend a smaller percentage of their income on energy compared to lower-income and middle-income households. To truly understand and address energy affordability, we must consider income alongside other socioeconomic factors, rather than relying on averages alone, which can mask the real burdens many Minnesotans face. Defining what is “affordable” must reflect the diverse realities of households across the state.
Broadening energy decision-making: Everyone is affected by energy policy, but very few communities are actually represented in the decision-making process. Shubha will bring new voices and communities into energy policy conversations, ensuring that the people most affected by energy decisions have a meaningful seat at the table.
Addressing racial and economic disparities: The energy system has created and perpetuated many racial and economic disparities, and we can design the system to help solve those disparities. “We can’t solve all racial and economic problems with energy policy,” Shubha notes, “but there are many we can address by creating a more inclusive energy system.”
Building coalitions, integrating equity, and the clean energy opportunity
Building coalitions of community partners interested in energy policy will be central to Shubha’s approach. She’s committed to ensuring that policy solutions have broad community support, particularly from communities of color. High-impact improvements to our energy system will meaningfully affect people’s lives, and policies that address the most pressing concerns impacting a broad number of people will be prioritized.
“In many conversations with communities of color, I’ve heard a consistent message: policy solutions may not address the issues that matter most or fall short of reaching the people they are meant to benefit. I hope to align our energy policy with the priorities of those most affected – lower energy bills, better access to energy decision-making, and meaningful opportunities to participate in the clean energy economy,” Shubha says. “This is about prioritizing policies that are highest-impact for the broadest number of people and ensuring communities and coalitions are the ones defining and driving those solutions.”
In her new role, Shubha will work across Fresh Energy’s different teams to identify opportunities to reach more people, whether it’s building upgrades, electric transit programs, or other policy areas.
“If only 10 percent or even a quarter of the people in Minnesota transition to clean energy, it won’t have been a transition,” Shubha says. “True success means ensuring the benefits and opportunities of clean energy reach every community across the state.”
As Shubha steps into this leadership role, Fresh Energy is well-positioned to advance policies that make Minnesota’s clean energy future not just carbon-free, but truly equitable for all. We’re excited to see the impact of her work in the months and years ahead.
