Communities for Local Power Elects New Board President

Kingston NY, October 19, 2022 – At the September board meeting, Communities for Local Power (CLP) elected Troy Ellen Dixon as board president of the organization. Dixon succeeds Susan H. Gillespie, CLP’s founding president, who was elected vice president at the meeting. 

Dixon became involved with CLP in an advisory capacity during a series 

of community conversations held in 2019. Following that, she was 

invited to join the CLP “Kitchen Cabinet” (so named because the 

organization’s initial meetings were held in the kitchen of a member’s 

home) and was elected to the board in the fall of 2020. Dixon says she 

appreciates this opportunity to continue as a board member in this 

leadership position. 

Noting that CLP was formed, in late 2012, to fight the takeover of 

Central Hudson by Fortis, Inc., Dixon was impressed initially by the 

organization’s demonstrated commitment to equity in clean energy 

programs, policies, and investments. “CLP’s focus on training people, 

from underserved and historically marginalized communities, how to 

perform home air-sealing and weatherization, install solar panels, heat pumps, and geothermal energy systems, and conduct indoor air quality and energy audits is vitally important, because it provides them the opportunity to secure employment in these fields.” 

CLP will continue to advance energy-related initiatives that will improve quality of life for all who live in the greater Kingston community. “Within this context,” says Dixon, “I will place particular emphasis on working to achieve energy justice for those in the community, in low- to middle-income and BIPOC households, who are disproportionately impacted by higher energy burdens, power shutoffs, and service breakdowns.” 

Former CLP outreach coordinator, Susie Ximenez, will continue working with the organization as a newly elected board member. She holds an MFA in Fine Art from Universidad del Claustro de

PRESS RELEASE 

Sor Juana. In 2017, Ximenez founded Latinx Project, which seeks to strengthen the Latinx community in the Hudson Valley through art and community. Ximenez joins board members Betta Broad, Pat Courtney-Strong (board treasurer), Lindsay Hutton, Kelleigh McKenzie, Melinda McKnight, and Amy Trompetter (board secretary).