Resilient solar+storage systems can enable community-serving organizations to provide essential services during power outages, and these systems can provide year-round cost savings. Affordable housing developments, emergency shelters, community centers, fire stations, and other critical service providers are excellent candidates for resilient solar+storage systems, but figuring out how to acquire these systems involves time, money and expertise. Clean Energy Group’s (CEG) Technical Assistance Fund (TAF) (https://www.cleanegroup.org/initiatives/technical-assistance-fund/) was established in 2014 to fill this resource gap. Over the past 10 years, CEG’s TAF has supported over 175 communities in their quest for resilient power. In this webinar, CEG staff will discuss how to establish an effective and equitable technical assistance program.

This webinar will also feature a presentation by staff at the Washington State Department of Commerce on their Solar Plus Storage for Resilient Communities program. This program awards planning and construction grants, and offers direct technical assistance to eligible communities. In its inaugural year, the program awarded over $35 million to communities for project predevelopment support and implementation funding, including 44 feasibility studies since May 2023. Panelists will outline the framework driving their technical assistance approach, and discuss the lessons learned in their first year.