The successful first phase of the Community Clean Energy Coalition Prize has drawn to a close. Ten teams will be awarded $30,000 each for their winning plans to form a local coalition and address a pressing energy challenge in their communities!
The official Department of Energy announcement can be found here.
The winning teams are as follows:
Positive Energy Coalition, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Goal: Decrease the energy burdens of the historic Greenwood, North Tulsa District through solar installation, job training, and job placement.
Change is in the Air: Gresham Coalition, Multnomah County, Oregon
Goal: Address key community issues directly tied to a just energy transition, access to local air quality data, and workforce development.
The HBCU Community Development Action Coalition, Denmark, South Carolina; Orangeburg, South Carolina; New Orleans, Louisiana
Goal: Utilize Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to deploy placed-based initiatives and energy-related solutions that help decrease the energy burden of nearby low- and moderate-income communities.
ReBuildATL Coalition, Atlanta, Georgia
Goal: Empower Westside Atlanta residents through workforce training, more energy-efficient homes, and renewable energy systems.
Missoula’s Clean Energy Workforce Coalition, Missoula, Montana
Goal: Work for and with low-income women, diversifying the clean energy workforce, and increasing access to family-supporting careers.
Revitalize Our Communities (ROC) Clean Energy Coalition, Atlanta, Georgia
Goal: Increase community awareness and job opportunities around solar energy and sustainable agriculture by training high school students to grow fresh fruits and vegetables through an integration of solar energy and hydroponics—then delivering them to residents in the South Fulton County food desert.
Green Business Council, Washington, D.C.; Fresno, California; Miami, Florida; Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan; Las Vegas, Nevada; Navajo County, Arizona; Lumbee River, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Mineral County, Nevada
Goal: Solve three major energy challenges—reduce energy burden, increase access to clean energy, and create clean energy jobs—by creating and expanding a Green Business Council to deploy clean energy solutions to ten communities across the USA.
Team Philly, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Goal: Relieve energy burden, create green jobs, and develop an equitable energy transition through neighborhood energy centers.
NOLA Clean Energy Collective, New Orleans, Louisiana
Goal: Increase the accessibility of clean energy education, awareness, and training through engaging in relatable art.
Asociación de Residentes de La Margarita, Inc., Salinas, Puerto Rico
Goal: Energize at least 40% of Salinas’s elderly and low-income residents via installation of solar roofing and batteries to create a robust and resilient microgrid.
These teams were selected out of more than 70 entries to this first round of the prize for best identifying a community to serve and an energy challenge to address that is not only achievable, but also aligns with the goals of the White House’s Justice 40 initiative.
We look forward to seeing their coalitions and plans come together in Phase Two!
