WASHINGTON, D.C. —The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE) announced it has selected a total of seven organizations to receive funding under the Energy Storage for Social Equity (ES4SE) Initiative. ES4SE is designed to empower disadvantaged communities to consider energy storage technologies as a viable path toward achieving their energy goals.
“These organizations are fully engaged with ES4SE to find energy storage solutions in their communities,” said Gene Rodrigues, Assistant Secretary for Electricity. “OE is proud of our ES4SE partners, because we believe their participation will result in improved resilience, energy affordability, and prosperity where they live.”
The following are the recipients of this Project Development and Deployment Assistance (PDDA) cost-share funding:
- 10Power and Akiing 8th Fire are working with the Pine Point School District a Native School in Ponsford, MN to bolster community resiliency and decrease electric utility costs through clean energy systems. This project will expand an existing 21 kW ground-mount PV array at the Pine Point K-8 school and community center through the addition of a 2.76 MWh energy storage system and expansion of 500.8 kW DC PV capacity. Adding storage to the school will help lower electricity rates, support the White Earth tribal members’s goals of energy self-sufficiency, and make the school a resilience hub for the community during power outages or other disasters. Award amount: $1.75 million.
- Together New Orleans, a coalition of congregations and community-based organizations, is continuing its work of deploying community lighthouses across the greater New Orleans area. Each lighthouse is a solar + storage resiliency hub that can provide charging and cooling stations, lights, food, and other vital resources and information when the power goes out. Out of 24 lighthouses planned, three are nearing construction completion. ES4SE project cost share funding will enable Together New Orleans to break ground on seven additional lighthouses. Award amount: $806,000.
- Open Door Mission’s Plymouth Avenue North facility in Rochester, NY is a provider of critical community services. The facility has day rooms and a commercial kitchen and serves as a community shelter with hot meal provision. The facility also functions as an emergency shelter during power outages or severe weather events. The Mission, in partnership with Unity Renewables, will use ES4SE cost share funding to install solar PV and battery energy storage at the facility to provide resilience and cost savings. The clean energy systems will take the place of fossil fuel generators during power outages and will mitigate the negative health impacts from noise and air pollution normally associated with use of fossil generators. Award amount: $1.1 million.
- Native Renewables Inc. has a long history of partnering with households in the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe to install off-grid residential photovoltaic plus battery energy storage system (PV+BESS) for homes without access to the electric grid. Native Renewables will work with households for selection to install PV+BESS that will include remote monitoring of the battery systems.
- Hoʻāhu Energy Cooperative Moloka’i (HECM) is deploying residential islanded solar and battery storage nano-grids to fifteen households in the Moloka’i community. ES4SE will support a BESS, inverter and controls, remote monitoring equipment, and look at ways to partner with HECM’s workforce development program.
- Coast Electric Power Association (CEPA) is working with the Hancock County Utility Authority (HCUA) to install a BESS for one of two wastewater treatment plants. The BESS will support small solar farms for three of HCUA’s wastewater treatment plants and connect to a voltage distribution loop serviced by CEPA for one day of resilience.
- Ayika Solutions Incorporated and Capital to Coast Collaborative partners will deploy a BESS for the Harambee House Resiliency Hub in Savannah, Georgia in conjunction with Creative Solar, who will supply and install the solar PV array for the project. In a power outage or other emergency event, the Harambee House is projected to serve 25–35 local residents by providing heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, lighting, Wi-Fi, and phone charging.
Nationally, more than 65% of low-income households face a high energy burden. More than 30% of all households experienced some form of energy insecurity, sometimes even foregoing food, medicine, and heating or cooling comfort to pay an energy bill.
“Advancements in energy storage can help communities receive more affordable and reliable electricity,” said Rodrigues. “We are thrilled that these communities can now advance in assessing their energy challenges, evaluating solutions, and finding partners to support them in meeting their energy goals.”
About ES4SE
OE supported two of DOE’s national laboratories—Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia)—to develop ES4SE.
The first phase of ES4SE—Technical Assistance (TA)—launched in March 2022 with $2 million in funding to support. OE selected fourteen communities to participate in a comprehensive and personalized TA program, led by PNNL. This phase includes project cost-share assistance and project development assistance to transform the clean energy and storage plans into live systems that improve resilience, reduce pollution, and increase affordability. Sandia will also provide technical support, including requests for proposal development, system installation and commissioning guidance, system safety reviews, and local first responder safety training for participants throughout the PDDA.
Learn more about the Office of Electricity.
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