2022 Community Benefits Grant Program awards funding to Los Angeles and Ventura County Organizations
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- For Immediate Release: October 17, 2022
Los Angeles, CA — Clean Power Alliance (CPA) and Calpine Energy Solutions are pleased to announce the winners of the second annual Community Benefits Grant Program. Through this grant program, 10 non-profit organizations within CPA's service territory have received funding through Calpine Energy Solutions to advance clean energy initiatives in their communities.
This year's grants are being awarded to non-profits that advance environmental education; clean energy development in disadvantaged communities; green workforce development and renewable energy research and planning. Grant amounts ranged from $9,500 to $30,000.
The Community Benefits Grant Program application period took place from Aug. 1 to Sept. 16, 2022. A total of 29 applications were received, with 10 applicants being awarded grants. In all, the program awarded nearly $204,000 in grants.
The program is a partnership between Calpine Energy Solutions and CPA. Calpine Energy Solutions awards the program funding, while Clean Power Alliance develops the grant guidelines and helps recruit nonprofit organizations to apply for funding. Both entities work together to assess grant applications.
"Clean Power Alliance is proud to provide this tremendous opportunity for many well-deserving non-profits within our service territory," said Gina Goodhill, Clean Power Alliance's Director of Government Affairs. "We appreciate Calpine's ongoing commitment to providing this support which will assist thousands of individuals throughout the diverse communities we serve."
Calpine Energy Solutions' Senior Vice President of the CCA Business Unit Drake Welch believes this annual Community Benefits Program provides a great opportunity to develop long-term environmentally friendly partnerships.
"Calpine Energy Solutions is committed to our CCA partners and the many various communities they serve," Welch said. "We are delighted to sponsor this program that highlights the important work of many community organizations, while further amplifying the positive impact of Clean Power Alliance throughout Southern California."
This year's grant recipients include the following non-profit organizations:
Active San Gabriel Valley ($16,983) – Funding will support clean energy-related operations, including their Healthy Homes program and GoSGV Electric Bike Share.
Climate Action Santa Monica ($12,500) - Funding will support the CASM Climate Corps program for education and workforce development. Each year, Climate Corps provides teenager and young adults education in global climate issues and training via project-based local actions.
Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas ($19,334) – Funds will go toward encouraging local climate action plans and improving the accessibility and content of educational materials on the organization's website. Funds will also go toward the Environmental Voices Academy, which is designed to provide a deeper understanding of local environmental issues and advocacy, as well as expand the network of academy participants.
Columbia Memorial Space Center ($25,000) – Funding will support City of STEM, the largest program promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in Los Angeles. The program is committed to opening equitable access to STEM learning, especially to those members of the public from marginalized and BIPOC communities, and under-resourced neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles.
Community Environmental Council ($22,240) – Funds will be used toward general operating support for the expansion of clean energy educational programming throughout Ventura County. This work will focus on electric vehicles and building electrification education and outreach, environmental awareness, and climate literacy.
Grid Alternatives LA ($30,000) – Funds will be used to provide homeowners in Carson and Whittier with reroofs, service panel upgrades, and/or any other necessary professional services to allow them to access no-cost solar energy systems.
Merito Foundation ($25,260) – Funds will be used to train eight middle school and high school science teachers from Ventura Unified School District to instruct approximately 1,000 students in the use of 'Energy Efficiency to Mitigate Climate Change and Ocean Acidification' curriculum.
Nyeland Promise ($20,000) – Funds will be used to develop and implement a multilingual (English, Spanish, and Mixteco) initiative to provide linguistically and culturally appropriate messaging to help residents reduce their energy usage during periods of peak energy.
Pando Populus ($23,000) – Funding will go toward Pando Days, a project-centered learning program for colleges and universities focused on implementing county sustainability goals. This year's program spans a total of 16 universities to community colleges across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.
Sustainable Claremont ($9,500) – Funding will support four clean energy interns to assist with public dialogs and social media/newsletter outreach.
The Community Benefits Grant Program is an ongoing program. The next call for grant applicants will take place in the third quarter of 2023.
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About Clean Power Alliance
Founded in 2017, Clean Power Alliance is the locally operated not-for-profit electricity provider for 30 cities across Los Angeles County and Ventura County, as well as the unincorporated areas of both counties. CPA is the fifth largest electricity provider in California and has the most customers receiving 100% renewable energy in the nation. CPA serves approximately three million people via one million customer accounts, providing clean renewable energy at competitive rates. For complete information regarding CPA visit http://www.cleanpoweralliance.org.
About Calpine Energy Solutions
Calpine Energy Solutions is the premier provider of data management and customer contact center services for Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Agencies. Since 2009, Calpine has been a trusted business partner serving 21 operating CCAs and managing customer data for over 4 million customer accounts across the state. As part of a Fortune 500 company, Calpine Energy Solutions' best-in-class back-office services helps guide clients from the initial program launch through mass enrollment phases and beyond. Decades of utility and billing experience, electronic data interchange, customized implementation planning, and robust customer data management enable Calpine's clients to achieve their missions and long-term operational success.
Media contacts:
Joseph Cabral
Clean Power Alliance
[email protected]
213-442-8109
Brett Kerr
Calpine Energy Solutions
[email protected]
Media Contact
Joseph Cabral, Clean Power Alliance, 2134428109, [email protected]
SOURCE Clean Power Alliance
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