Fossil-fuel companies sponsor local community events across the United States – such as county and state fairs – far more aggressively than their renewable-energy counterparts, according to a new peer-reviewed study by Harvard researchers.

The analysis, published this month in Energy Research & Social Science, provides the first systematic evidence of how energy firms use hyper-local marketing to shape public perception, offering a timely and novel contribution to understandings of how energy companies engage with communities.

Analyzing 738 counties and all 50 state fairs, and including representative nationwide opinion polling, the authors show that fair sponsorships measurably boost the public’s favorability toward sponsoring energy companies.

Key findings:

• In a sample of fairs in nearly 200 counties with a significant energy industry presence, the authors found 38% of sponsorships were from fossil-fuel companies, compared with 5% from renewable-energy firms – roughly a seven-to-one gap.
• Even in counties with high renewable energy employment, fossil fuel sponsorships maintain a significant lead (32.8% of sponsorships vs. 5.8%).
• When it comes to highlighting community engagement on their websites, fossil fuel companies lead: They accounted for 90.1% of total self-reported community activity, while renewable energy companies contributed only 9.9%.
• Narrative imbalance: While fossil firms use scholarships, livestock auctions, and “heritage” language to build goodwill, renewables rarely tout their own local contributions – leaving a messaging vacuum.

“Given the social and political importance of local legitimacy for energy development, this work highlights a critical, yet underdeveloped, dimension of public finance and corporate strategy,” said lead author Ana Martinez, a collaborator with the Salata Institute’s Strengthening Communities research cluster, which is investigating the disruptions and opportunities arising from the energy transition. “As renewable energy companies expand, their relative neglect of community engagement, particularly through community sponsorship, represents both a strategic gap and a missed opportunity to build deep-rooted local support.”

Senior author Dustin Tingley said, “Renewable energy is an important part of the energy mix of the country. But in many places, these companies are not integrating into local communities. Fossil fuel companies have a long-established playbook for doing this and being successful. Time to take note.”

Citation: Ana Martinez, Pranav Moudgalya, Dustin Tingley. “Energy at the fair: County fair sponsorship patterns from the energy sector in the United States.” Energy Research & Social Science, Volume 127, September 2025.

Media contact: David Trilling, david_trilling@harvard.edu