PRESS RELEASE: NW Energy Coalition participates in a $2 million grant from U.S. Department of Energy

TO ALL MEDIA:
For immediate release, October 20, 2016

NW Energy Coalition participates in a $2 million grant from
U.S. Department of Energy

3-year joint effort to develop strategies for increasing solar energy, modernizing energy infrastructure
in Washington and Oregon will launch this year.

Solar Plus, a joint effort of more than a dozen stakeholder groups in Washington and Oregon, led by Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development (Northwest SEED), and including the NW Energy Coalition, has been awarded a $2,050,000 SunShot grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to further the deployment of solar energy in the Pacific Northwest. It is the largest of the seventeen awards totaling $21 million announced today.

The Solar Plus initiative will convene leaders from utilities, regulators, the Washington State Energy Office at the Department of Commerce, the Oregon Department of Energy, the solar industry and community-based organizations to develop a plan to tap into our region’s unique opportunities to develop solar and provide greater access.

The $2,050,000 grant is matched with additional cost-share commitments from partners. Over three years and launching later this year, Solar Plus will look beyond energy generation to additional solar value streams in three main focus areas:

  • Deploying more community shared solar projects in the region
  •  Creating opportunities for increased resilience and access to solar for low-income communities
  • Maximizing the social and electricity grid value of solar development

The NW Energy Coalition will play a key role by convening stakeholder meetings and helping determine the metrics that will be used to measure the social and economic benefits of growth in solar access and capabilities.

For more information contact:
Sean O’Leary, sean@nwenergy.org (206) 621-0094; cell (603) 661-3586

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About the NW Energy Coalition:
The NW Energy Coalition is a 35-year-old alliance of 100 environmental, labor, civic, faith and human service organizations, progressive utilities and businesses in Idaho, Montana, Oregon Washington and British Columbia committed to a clean and affordable energy future