Editorial Process

The 5-stage editorial workflow

Every long-form page on EnergyTools moves through the same pipeline before it ships. The point of writing it down is that you can hold us to it.

1. 1

   Research and data gathering

   Every article starts with primary sources, not opinion. We pull residential rates from EIA Table 5.6.A and NREL Utility Rates V3, solar production from NREL PVWatts V8, incentive rules from DSIRE and the state PUC dockets, vehicle efficiency from EPA FuelEconomy.gov, installed-cost benchmarks from LBNL Tracking the Sun, and federal tax-credit rules from IRS and U.S. Treasury guidance. The raw figures go into the single-source-of-truth JSON files in src/data/ that also drive the calculators, so an article and a calculator can never disagree about the same number.

2. 2

   AI-assisted first draft

   EnergyTools uses AI tools to produce the first draft of an article. We say that plainly here, in line with the Editorial Process Attribution signal that search engines began rewarding after the July 2026 Core Update. AI is a drafting tool, not a publisher. It does not get the final word on any claim that appears on the site, and no page goes live on an AI draft alone.

3. 3

   Human fact-check

   A human editor reviews every numerically load-bearing claim against the primary source. Rates are checked against the EIA and NREL pulls cited above; incentive figures are checked against the current DSIRE record or PUC order; payback and savings numbers are checked against the same JSON SSOT that the calculator code reads. Anything that cannot be traced to a primary source is either removed or rewritten as an explicitly labeled illustrative example. Errors found at this stage are corrected before publication, not after.

4. 4

   SEO optimization and unique media

   We structure articles for search: descriptive title and meta description, internal links to the relevant calculator and to neighboring articles, schema.org structured data (Article, BreadcrumbList, FAQPage where applicable), and original charts or tables rather than stock photography. We do not stuff keywords, and per DESIGN.md we do not use generic hero sections, AI-purple gradients, or fabricated benchmarks. The goal is for a search engine and a human reader to see the same useful page.

5. 5

   Publisher review

   Before publication, the page is signed off by the editorial team led by Jeremy Wolfe (Senior Solar Energy Analyst). The reviewer confirms the sources, the math, the disclosure language, and the design tokens one more time. If a correction is needed later, we update the page, bump dateModified in the Article schema, and note the change on the affected page. The site is maintained; pages are not abandoned.

AI is used at the drafting stage (Stage 2). It is never the only voice on the page. The fact-check (Stage 3) and the publisher review (Stage 5) are both performed by a human editor, and any claim that cannot be traced to a primary source is removed before publication.

Correction policy

If we publish something wrong, we fix it and note the change on the affected page. When a numeric error is confirmed, we update the figure, refresh the source citation if needed, bump dateModifiedin the Article schema, and add a short correction note at the bottom of the page describing what changed and when.

To report an error, email hello@renewestimator.comwith the page URL and the value in question. We review every report and reply once a correction is published or the figure is confirmed correct.