The National Model for Community-Owned Energy
The Keep Lights On™ Initiative is NextGen Energy's flagship program for bringing HERO™ Hubs to communities and institutions — fully financed, professionally built, and structured so participants share in ownership of the infrastructure they depend on.
Backed by the U.S. Department of Energy.
DOE recognized that meeting the nation's growing energy needs — and protecting communities from climate-driven disruptions — requires more than incremental improvement to the existing grid. Through its Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership program, DOE selected NextGen Energy’s HERO concept for a Top 10 GRIP award, investing $250 million in HERO Hub development through a demonstration project in Louisiana.
DOE then charged NextGen Energy with a second mandate: transition the model into something replicable and scalable nationwide, deployable in any state without continued federal support. The Keep Lights On Initiative is how NextGen Energy is carrying out that charge, and Massachusetts is where the model is being proven at commercial scale.
How it works.
Participants join a consortium, clustering neighboring communities and sites to gain the economies of scale that make institutional financing possible. Each receives its own HERO™ Hub, sized to its facilities and needs.
The infrastructure is delivered through the Keep Lights On Fund, with participants holding a governance voice and participating as limited partners alongside institutional capital. Over the life of the agreement, participants receive stabilized, lower energy costs and increased local resilience, and ultimately take ownership of the infrastructure that powers them.
Why Massachusetts, why now.
Massachusetts communities face electricity costs 70% above the national average, an aging and import-dependent grid, and outages that increasingly stretch beyond 24 hours. A growing number of towns have engaged, and the first Massachusetts sites are moving toward development.
In August 2026, the towns of Harvard, Ayer, and Shirley were awarded a Commonwealth grant to build locally owned energy and resilience — launching Keep Lights On MA™ with NextGen Energy as their partner. See the announcement →