EPNI and CEF’s plans for Rooftop Solar Energy win Grand Prize funding at Federal Community Energy Summit
EPNI and CEF’s plans for Rooftop Solar Energy in Minneapolis win Grand Prize Funding at Federal Community Energy Summit
MINNEAPOLIS, MN. — On December 4th, the Department of Energy awarded the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) and Cooperative Energy Futures (CEF) $160,000 to develop a community-owned rooftop solar array as part of the larger East Phillips Urban Farm project. EPNI and CEF presented on the project at the U.S. Department of Energy’s recent summit in Chicago.
In a nationwide challenge for the DOE’s Community Energy Innovation Prize (CEIP), EPNI and CEF’s team won second place in the Clean Energy Ecosystem Track and $160,000 in funding. The $7.49 million prize supports a variety of community-based organizations, private sector groups, and collegiate teams who are building trust and partnerships within underserved communities while advancing the clean energy transition. Over the last year, EPNI and CEF have won a combined $360,000 through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s HeroX program. This recent win was the final of the program’s three phases: Concept, Progress and Impact.
“Federal recognition further proves that the East Phillips neighborhood’s vision for a community-owned resilience hub, built next to what was formerly designated as a Superfund site, is just as necessary as community members here have been saying for over a decade. This win is another step forward in this project’s overall mission to advance environmental and economic justice in Minneapolis and beyond.”
As the largest urban solar array within two miles of a downtown in the United States, this array would provide an estimated $9.4 million to the East Phillips community over a 25 year period while contributing to a more cyclical and just localized economy. It would power an estimated 200 homes and offset carbon emissions from the proposed indoor urban farm operations by 50%.
Please get in touch at media@epnifarm.org to learn more about this win and ongoing collaborations with Cooperative Energy Futures, and to be connected with sources.
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The East Phillips Neighborhood Institute (EPNI, epnifarm.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization fighting for environmental justice and innovative economic development in the East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis, MN. Started by neighbors determined to bring healing and needed resources into their historically neglected community, EPNI led a 10-year fight against the city of Minneapolis to win communal stewardship of a 7-acre vacant warehouse in the heart of East Phillips. Now, EPNI and its growing list of partners hold the opportunity to transform this warehouse into a cooperatively-owned, solar-powered community hub and indoor urban farm with community care at the core.
Cooperative Energy Futures (CEF, cooperativeenergyfutures.com) is a 308B Minnesota cooperative association that makes clean energy accessible to all. CEF’s mission is to empower communities across Minnesota to build energy democracy through solutions that are clean, local, and ours. We exist to create access to, benefit from, and provide ownership of clean energy for low-income households, communities of color, and renters. Our cooperative model ensures our projects are accountable to – and build wealth for – local communities.