Clean energy grants update

Washington State Department of Commerce sent this bulletin at 05/05/2025 08:00 AM PDT

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May 5, 2025

Clean energy grants update

Project spotlight – Empowering Point Roberts: A community’s solar future

Solar system chalk drawings from Solar Fest.

Solar system chalk drawings from Solar Fest. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Keijser and Resilient Point Roberts.

Point Roberts is a small community in the northwest corner of Whatcom County, bordered by water on three sides and the Canadian border to the north. Like many rural areas, Point Roberts faces the challenge of effectively responding to emergencies, including power outages and other disruptions.

In the spring of 2024, the Point Roberts Parks and Recreation Department received a Clean Energy Grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce. The grant funded feasibility studies for solar energy systems with battery backups at key public buildings in the town. The goal of this project was to determine which buildings could be equipped with solar and battery systems to increase the town's resilience in the event of an emergency.

To carry out these studies, Point Roberts Parks and Recreation partnered with Cascadia Renewables, a consulting firm based in Bellingham. Cascadia Renewables spent a full week conducting feasibility studies and hosting educational and community engagement activities. These activities aimed to help residents understand the benefits of solar energy and how to best navigate the process of installing solar systems for their homes.

Cascadia Renewables with Point Roberts representatives examining electrical meters

Cascadia Renewables with Point Roberts representatives examining electrical meters. Photo Courtesy of Rose Kirby, Cascadia Renewables.

Additional key local partners in this initiative included:

  • Whatcom County Fire District No. 5
  • Point Roberts Water District No. 4
  • Trinity Community Lutheran Church 

The community center, fire hall and church serve as critical emergency shelters, while the water and fire districts provide essential services to the area. These buildings were central to the feasibility studies conducted by Cascadia Renewables.

The week of October 7, 2024, was designated as "Solar Week." It featured not only the solar and battery storage feasibility studies but also informative talks about residential solar opportunities and guidance on how homeowners can effectively shop for solar arrays. The week culminated in Solar Fest on Saturday, October 12, 2024 — an engaging and successful community event organized by Resilience Point Roberts!, a local grassroots organization led by Shauna Sylvester, Kara Smith, and a dedicated group of residents.

Shauna Sylvester with Resilient Point Roberts! And Stephen Falk with Point Roberts Parks and Recreation

Shauna Sylvester with Resilient Point Roberts! And Stephen Falk with Point Roberts Parks and Recreation. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Keijser and Resilient Point Roberts.

 

Solar Fest brought together community members, Cascadia Renewables, local partners, three solar installers willing to work in Point Roberts, two representatives from the Washington State Department of Commerce, Puget Sound Energy, a local musician, and numerous residents eager to learn more about solar energy.

Announcements

Commerce conditionally awards over $23 million dollars to small electric utilities for grid resilience and reliability grants

In fall of 2024, Commerce opened a Request for Applications (RFA) for the Washington Grid Resilience and Reliability program. Funded by the Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants (supporting section 40101(d) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), the program is designed to strengthen and modernize the power grid against wildfires, extreme weather, and other disruptive events. Earlier this year, 18 sub-recipient applications, totaling a funding request of $23,596,973, were selected to advance to the Department of Energy for approval. See the full list of awards.

Commerce is anticipating releasing a second RFA for this funding opportunity sometime in 2025. Updates will be posted on the Grid Resilience and Reliability webpage.

Clean Energy Community Grants awards $41 million to support the planning, design and implementation of clean energy projects 

These projects will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and will meaningfully benefit tribal communities, overburdened communities, and vulnerable populations in the state.

 

CCA logo

In the first round of funding, $38 million was awarded to projects that include rooftop solar, solar plus battery storage, carbon capture, ground source heat pumps, microgrids and more. 

 

Environmental Justice and Community Engagement unit updates

The Energy Programs in Communities (EPIC) unit has created a new Environmental Justice and Community Engagement Section. The HEAL Act implementation team currently operates in this new section, and you can learn more about their work on the HEAL Act and Environmental Justice webpage.

In March 2025, the HEAL Act implementation team worked closely with the Commerce Community Engagement Unit and hosted their first pilot Community Involvement Sessions. These sessions engage community members in discussions about environmental justice, program effectiveness, and community priorities regarding environmental and community health. Two sessions were hosted with 141 community-based participants.

Participants provided helpful feedback on the potential impacts of Commerce programs conducting environmental justice assessments on their work. Community feedback and guidance is instrumental in shaping Commerce’s future environmental and health initiatives, ensuring community voices are central to decision-making processes.

To be notified about future opportunities and participate in the environmental justice assessment of Commerce programs, please email your name and preferred email address to environmentaljustice@commerce.wa.gov.

You can also track Commerce’s 2023-2025 Commerce environmental justice assessments (XLS) on the Significant Agency Actions Status Dashboard.

Upcoming events

Enhancing grid resilience grant applications: An interactive workshop for Washington utilities

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Commerce are hosting a series of workshops focused on improving and supporting grid resilience grant applications. The workshops will cover ways to plan, use technology, and develop strategies to strengthen the power grid against wildfires, floods, winter storms and other severe weather.

May 7, 2025, 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
PNNL Discovery Hall, 650 Horn Rapids Road, Richland, WA 99354

June 23, 2025, 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Squalicum Boathouse, 2600 N Harbor Loop Dr, Bellingham, WA 98225
Register to attend

  • Why attend: Utilities will learn best practices to propose grid resilience investments and craft strong applications for 40101(d) grid resilience grants. Attendees will experience hands-on demonstrations of cutting-edge resilience and disaster response analysis tools and have the opportunity to connect with and learn from subject matter experts and other utilities statewide.

  • Who should attend: Municipal utilities, public utility districts, rural electric cooperatives, and tribes that own or operate a tribal utility. The Richland workshop targets utilities in eastern Washington, although any utility in the state is welcome to attend.