Clean Energy Group Issues 7 Solar + Storage Grants for Low-Income Communities
To help low-income communities across the US better access the benefits of solar power and energy storage the Clean Energy group issued seven grants from its Resilient Power Leadership Initiative this week. The grants will help the recipients, community-based nonprofits and affordable housing developers, build their organizational capacity to add in solar and energy storage.
The grants are made through the Resilient Power Project, which is a joint initiative of the Clean Energy Group and Meridian Institute. “There are hundreds of resilient solar+storage projects now in development or deployed in the U.S., as more companies and consumers are becoming aware of the benefits that solar+storage systems can offer,” explained Seth Mullendore, project director at Clean Energy Group.
“Unfortunately, very few community-based organizations have the internal capacity to move solar+storage projects forward or to advocate for policies that could lead to greater resilient power deployment in their communities,” Mullendore added. “This is particularly true for nonprofits that serve low-income communities, which are most in need of cost savings and resiliency benefits from solar+storage, but often have limited resources available to access new technology solutions.”
While the amount of the leadership grants were not disclosed, the recipients were the California Environmental Justice Alliance representing Oakland and Huntington Park, CA; The Greenlining Institute in Oakland, CA; LINC Housing Corporation of Long Beach, CA; Sust’Äinable Molokai of Kaunakakai, HI; Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) of Boston; THE POINT Community Development Corporation in Bronx, NY and WE ACT for Environmental Justice in New York City. Learn more about the grants and their projects here: www.cleanegroup.org/ceg-resources/resource/resilient-power-leadership-awards.
Clean Energy Group will also support the grantees’ work with materials it’s developing, including targeted resilient power tutorials, project and policy development resources and. The organization also will make the resources publicly available, allowing other communities to use them to support similar projects.
“Incorporating a resilient strategy is a key component of creating healthy, efficient, and affordable housing,” said Julie Klump, vice president of Design and Building Performance at POAH. “The grant will help us focus on the incorporation of resilient strategies at one or more current projects and across our portfolio.”
The Clean Energy Group’s efforts are also being supported by the Kresge Foundation, The JPB Foundation, and Surdna Foundation are supporting Clean Energy Group’s effort. “The Kresge Foundation is pleased to support the Resilient Power Project and this pilot program,” said Lois DeBacker, managing director of Kresge's Environment Program. “These grants will build local knowledge and place-based innovation to deploy clean energy technologies and to address environmental and equity concerns within low-income communities. Increased access to clean energy technologies, like solar+storage, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while making communities stronger, more equitable, and more resilient to the changing climate.”
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