A method Oregonians can thrive is by creating resilient communities that may face up to vitality outages and hold core energy-dependent providers up and operating.
Earlier this 12 months, the Oregon Division of Vitality (ODOE) took an vital step in reaching that objective when it introduced a brand new grant program designed to help native vitality resilience plans.
Funded by Home Invoice 3630 in the course of the 2023 legislative session, the County Vitality Resilience Program gives as much as $50,000 per county to help the event of plans that:
- Map present vitality infrastructure and pure hazard dangers
- Establish wants to extend resilience
- Establish steps for implementation
- Establish communities that have social vulnerabilities primarily based on enter from environmental justice communities
By offering funding to jumpstart their resiliency plans, ODOE seeks to empower communities to establish the initiatives most impactful to residents and create plans that align with current objectives for vitality effectivity, emergency administration and financial improvement.
Grant funding can be utilized to pay workers engaged on the resiliency plan, contract with technical consultants and canopy bills for outreach occasions and extra prices associated to plan improvement.
A core accountability at Vitality Belief is making certain communities have entry to the vitality options wanted to face no matter challenges the longer term holds, whether or not meaning particular person objectives or bigger neighborhood vitality plans.
ODOE is accepting functions by February 28, 2025. Functions are reviewed on a rolling foundation. For extra info on this system and its necessities, take a look at ODOE’s FAQ web page.
By way of its tailor-made vitality planning providers, Vitality Belief works with metropolis and county officers to find out what method will finest meet their distinctive circumstances and priorities. These long-term vitality plans are a vital element in reaching sustainability and resiliency objectives.
Vitality Belief additionally gives help for Useful resource Help for Rural Environments (RARE) members and different community-based packages to extend capability of rural communities to enhance social, financial and environmental high quality.
