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Office of Just Transition News Briefs
June 6, 2024
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Policy and Legislative Updates
Streamlining Success: OJT’s Bill Passes the Legislature
OJT recently realized legislative success with the final passage of House Bill 24-1410 on April 18, just under two weeks before the session ended on the evening of May 8th. The bill aligns multiple funding criteria and expenditure deadlines, a previously existing complexity that created unnecessary confusion, a lack of continuity, and limited flexibility for both coal transition communities and workers, all while requiring the funds to be expended on a timeline that didn’t match up with the plant closure deadlines. HB24-1410 eliminates the confusion and enables OJT to more flexibly meet the self-identified needs of the communities and workers, with a more meaningful expenditure/encumbrance deadline of June 30, 2030. The bill, which did not include any additional funding, was signed into law by Governor Polis on May 31, 2024.
OJT would like to extend thanks to our labor partners, especially Carl Smith of SMART Transportation Division who testified in House Appropriations, for their help in ensuring the bill guarantees communities and workers can seamlessly utilize OJT funds on a timeline that makes sense for them.
Be on the lookout for a complete rundown of the legislative session in our next issue of Coal Transitions.
Informational Community Assistance Plan (ICAP) for Craig and Moffat County Completed
The ICAP report documents the work of six collaborating parties to develop “community assistance opportunities” for the City of Craig and Moffat County in northwest Colorado. These community assistance opportunities are actions that Tri-State (co-owner and operator of Craig Station), the state, and others may provide to communities that are facing the economic losses that will result from the closure of Craig Station—a coal-fired power plant that currently provides significant tax revenue, jobs, and other benefits to the community.
Since the report's completion, the ICAP was approved by Tri-State's board and has been submitted to the Public Utilities Commission.
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Coal Transition in the Global Context
International Scholars Meet with Yampa Valley Leaders and Workers
To increase awareness around worker and community impacts of the coal transition, OJT hosted an open house in Craig that was attended by local government leaders, educational institutions, employers and families of workers.
Just transition scholars Pradip Swarnaker and Dimitris Stevis shared experiences of transition from India, Greece and western European countries. Dr. Swarnakar is a sociologist and professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India, where he is the founder and lead of the Just Transition Research Center. Dr. Stevis is a professor with the Department of Political Science at Colorado State University.
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India's coal use is expected to peak between 2035 and 2040, according to government figures. The transition from coal in India will impact the livelihoods of several million people directly and indirectly. Greece's coal transition is expected to impact some twenty thousand workers. In addition to meeting with Craig residents, Drs. Swarnakar and Stevis also toured the Craig Station power plant and visited with Hayden officials about the coal transition in Routt County.
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Community Assistance Programs
Hayden Business Center Ground Breaking
The Town of Hayden broke ground on its new business park, the Northwest Colorado Business District (NCBD). Funded in part by a $900,000 grant award from OJT, the new park is located a mile from U.S. Route 40 with access to interstates 80 and 70, less than 2 miles from a Union Pacific Railroad spur and directly across from the Yampa Valley Regional Airport (HDN). A groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 17th.
NCBD will eventually include 117.1 acres with 23 total lots. Phase One will include 58 acres in development with 13 lots, and is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
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Yampa Valley Entrepreneurship Center Awarded Grant
OJT, in partnership with OEDIT, has awarded $400,000 to support the construction of an Entrepreneurship Center in Hayden, Colorado
"[T]he Yampa Valley Entrepreneurship Center, will be transformative for Hayden and the greater Northwest Colorado,” said Hayden Town Manager Mathew Mendisco. “It will be the first center that will be publicly owned and driven by community success as a whole and not focused on single sectors. This will be the place in West Routt County where businesses come together to share ideas and perspectives as well as the community being able to spur economic development at the grassroots level.”
Creating a robust “Entrepreneurial Ecosystem” is a key piece of Hayden’s long-term coal transition strategy, and this project will support that goal. The goal is to foster economic diversity, support existing businesses, create new employment opportunities, and increase tax revenues to benefit the Town of Hayden and other special districts in the area.
Previously, Colorado’s Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) granted $150,000 to demolish a structure on the site and for the preliminary design for the new Entrepreneurship Center in downtown Hayden. The Boettcher Foundation also awarded $50,000 for reconstruction and project implementation.
Renee Martinez hired as Pueblo Transition Project Manager
The City of Pueblo has hired Renee Martinez to develop a long-term transition plan to address the loss of jobs and property tax due to the closure of the Comanche Generating Station. The position is being funded by an OJT grant award.
I happy to delve into this important work. Having previously worked for one of Colorado’s U.S. Senators, I was tracking Comanche’s closure and the impact it would have on the community. Now, I can devote 100 percent of my time to working with stakeholders to help formulate solutions, making an equitable transition away from coal.”
Comanche Station includes three coal-fueled steam units - Comanche Unit 1 retired in 2022 and Comanche Unit 2 will retire by year-end 2025. Comanche Unit 3 is slated to retire no later than January 1, 2031, which will mark the end of the use of coal by Xcel Energy to produce electricity in Colorado.
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Other Funding Opportunities for Coal Communities |
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Upcoming State Grant Opportunities
- Colorado Energy Office Public Building Electrification
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CDOT Revitalizing Main Street (RMS) enhances active transportation safety and strengthens the connection of people to main streets and central economic hubs.
- Grants of $10,000-$250,000
- Rolling Deadlines: June 26, 2024; August 28, 2024; October 30, 2024; December 18, 2024
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CDOT Office of Innovative Mobility (OIM) Grants: provides grants to private, public, non-profit, and local agencies to fund innovative mobility and electrification solutions in the state of Colorado.
- New Grant cycle to open in the Summer of 2024.
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CDOT Safe Routes to School: Infrastructure grants to improve the built environment for students to walk and bike to school.
- New Grant Funding Application period opens August 2024.
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DOLA Local Match Program supports local governments with matching funds to support federal IIJA Program grant applications.
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DOLA Main Street Program offers support for community-led downtown revitalization.
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OEDIT Community Business Preservation Program is intended to help Colorado communities preserve the businesses that make them unique and are important to their residents.
- Grants of $10,000 to $50,000 per business in a selected community
- Application period: September 22, 2023 - January 19, 2024
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DOLA Microgrids for Community Resilience grant is designed to build community resilience regarding electric grid disruptions through the development of microgrids. Grants for planning, construction (generation), and construction (storage/controller)
Private Foundations
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Anschutz Family Foundation provides grants of $5,000-$10,000 for general operating or program/project requests for various program areas including community & capacity building and low-income housing, among others.
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The Boettcher Foundation's Rural Catalyst Grant Program awards capacity-building grants from $1,000-$10,000 to support the following types of projects: Strategic planning; Bringing people, ideas, and resources together to move forward an issue, topic, or opportunity; Short-term staffing or contractors to meet limited, one-time support needs; one-time operating costs, such as tap fees, application fees, public outreach, or education material expenses.
- Grant Inquiry Open Aug 1-Aug 30
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Buell Foundation provides grants to support early childhood education
- Deadline: September 3, 2024
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Colorado Health Foundation has a various June 14, 2024 grant program deadlines for projects that advance health equity.
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Gates Family Foundation Capital Grants grants for nonprofit organizations for capital campaigns, which are typically for building purchases, construction, expansion, renovation, and/or land acquisition.
- T-Mobile Hometown Grants awards up to $50,000 for shovel-ready projects that foster local connections, like technology upgrades, outdoor spaces, the arts, and community centers.
- Summer: Applications open April–June
- Fall: Applications open July–September
- The Just Transition Fund is offering help to local organizations to submit competitive federal federal applications for transition projects that advance equitable and inclusive local economies.
- Support for application-ready projects, including hiring a grant writer and helping identify funding programs your project is eligible for and reviewing the federal proposal before submission.
Federal Funding Opportunities
- Browse the IWG's Funding Opportunity Clearinghouse for a comprehensive list of federal funding opportunities for Energy Communities.
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EPA Community Change Grants Program for local community partnerships to reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. $2B available. Open until November 21.
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Colorado Office of Just Transition
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment
633 17th Street, Suite 1200
Denver, CO 80202 |
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