People’s Action Institute worked with member affiliates New Jersey Resource Project (NJRP) and Maine People’s Resource Center (MPRC) to conduct two deep canvassing projects focused on building community support for offshore wind power development. In the Spring and early Summer of 2024, canvassers from these organizations held conversations with over 1,400 local residents in Lacey Township, NJ and the Midcoast region of Maine combined. They found that community members’ opinions towards offshore wind development were complicated, often rooted in limited prior knowledge and complex emotions about local identity and economic change. However, the practice of holding long-form, one-on-one conversations with participants through deep canvassing allowed both organizations to better understand community attitudes and persuade residents to support offshore wind development.

In particular, canvassers found that situating development as an opportunity for delivering concrete local benefits – such as through a Community Benefits Agreement – attracted many participants and seemed to expand their senses of enthusiasm and community agency. Both NJRP and MPRC found their campaigns productive and empowering, both in terms of building organizational capacity through internal skills development and in providing a platform for further community engagement.