
The Challenge: Prioritize Underserved Populations in our Clean Energy Future
Low-income Massachusetts households spend a disproportionately high percentage of their income on energy, while renters, low-income, and non-English-speaking households are less likely to use energy efficiency incentives. Similarly, solar adoption lags for renters and minority communities. And yet, all residents need and deserve to be part of our collective clean energy future.
About EmPower Massachusetts
EmPower Massachusetts offers multiple stages of investment in communities and community-based organizations so that they can explore, develop, and implement program models or projects that provide access to the benefits of clean energy for previously underserved populations. This MassCEC program crowd-sources new and innovative ideas, then helps put them into action. EmPower offers funding to meet the following goals:
- Build organizational capacity ($5,000 to $25,000 grants)
- Explore innovative solutions ($5,000 to $25,000 grants)
- Implement solutions ($50,000 to $150,000 grants)
How Do I Get Started?
Not sure where to begin? Start with this list of recommendations and the associated table of contents to learn more!
- Review program goals (above)
- Review EmPower Grant Opportunities & Funding Schedule
- Discover Who’s Eligible
- Get connected! For more details on virtual office hours, setting up a call or joining our slack channel, visit our Resources and Support Section
- New to clean energy? Review our Clean Energy 101 Primer and our additional Resources and Support
- Check out what other awardees are doing. View the Awardee Map or read our EmPower Blog.
EmPower Grant Opportunities
Innovation and Capacity-Building Grants
- Innovation and Capacity Building Grants are "seed" funding for the exploration of innovative ideas for potential program models or projects, including the opportunity to build community or organizational capacity.
- What is Capacity Building? Learn from the National Council of Non-Profits.
- Among other purposes, this funding could be used for
- staff time devoted to program concept development or refinement
- technical studies needed to move projects forward
- costs for a grant-writer, accountant, lawyer, or other professional services
- community engagement expenses
- Grant range: $5,000-$25,000 (up to $50,000 in some cases)
Implementation Grants
- Implementation grants provide funding to implement community-based programs or projects that increase the access to the benefits of clean energy to and/or reduce energy burden on previously underserved population priority groups.
- Applications should identify specific goals and outcomes for energy access for the targeted priority population.
- Grant range: $50,000-$150,000
Funding Schedule
Two application periods are available for each grant opportunity: Fall 2022 and Spring 2023.
A schedule is provided in the adjacent table. See additional details in the application materials, below.
Process Step | Timing |
---|---|
Application period opens |
Friday, July 29, 2022 |
Application deadlines |
Fall: October 21, 2022 |
Interviews (when applicable) |
Within a month of application deadline |
Awards announced |
Within 2-3 months of each application deadline |
Who's Eligible
MassCEC seeks a wide variety of applicants/participants, such as
- Community-based organizations (CBOs), non-profits, and individuals
- Municipalities (including those with municipal electric departments/companies)
- Clean energy installers/implementers
- Financial institutions
We also encourage (and can help facilitate) beneficial partnerships. All applicants other than CBOs must partner with a CBO to participate in any grant opportunity.
For full Program details, please refer to the two Requests for Proposals (RFPs), below.
Apply
Application Process
- Review both RFPs to understand the Program and opportunities.
- (Optional but encouraged) Attend our informational webinars, participate in a workshop, and/or use other informational resources offered. See more information below regarding the resources MassCEC offers potential Applicants.
- (Optional but encouraged) Contact MassCEC to discuss your idea(s). Seek input or support via email (empower@masscec.com) or visit the MassCEC EmPower Slack workspace. See more information below on the support MassCEC may be able to offer, including a one-time review of your submission.
- (Optional) Submit a draft Application to MassCEC by the relevant Pre-Application Review Deadline listed in Section 5 of the RFP and receive feedback from MassCEC within two weeks.
- Reach out to MassCEC to indicate and discuss interest in any in-kind technical services from MassCEC (as described in Section 5 of the RFP).
- Complete Attachments 1 and 2 for each relevant grant opportunity. This includes confirming review of Attachment 3: EmPower Mass FY23 Template Innovation and Capacity Building Grant Agreement.
- Submit the form by email to the EmPower Mass team at empower@masscec.com with "Implementation or Innovation and Capacity Building Grant Application" in the subject line.
Application Materials
Implementation Grants
Innovation & Capacity-Building Grants
Contact us at: empower@masscec.com
Workshops and Videos
Watch this 15-minute overview of the current round of the EmPower Massachusetts Program.
See these recordings of our recent Participant Workshops:
See all the EmPower videos on our YouTube channel.
Resources and Support
We know there are many ways to approach these opportunities and want to ensure you have access to resources that support whichever challenge you are tackling or opportunity you are pursuing.
Key Resources
- Clean Energy 101 Primer
- Program Overview Video
- Grantee Guide on Developing Metrics and Outcomes (source: Barr Foundation)
Get connected, stay engaged, ask questions
Please contact us at empower@masscec.com with any questions or to set up a call with the EmPower team.
Sign up for virtual "Office Hours":
- February 22, 2023, at 12:00pm Register
- March 1, 2023, at 12:00pm Register
- March 8, 2023, at 1:00pm Register
Join our Slack channel:
The EmPower Slack channel is a great space for networking and collaboration between organizations. We will also be posting programmatic updates on this channel. Continue the conversation on Slack!
Past Awardees
Explore the 32 exciting projects supported by MassCEC's EmPower Massachusetts in 2022. Read the press release, or check out the map below. On the map, you can use the +/- buttons to zoom in, use your mouse to pan, and use the scrollbar at the right to see the full list of awardees. Click on the awardee's name or location pin to get more information about their project, including excerpts from their application.
Note: The points depicted on the map locate the address of the lead organization for each project, and are not necessarily representative of the area(s) in which the projects themselves are operating. The Project location listed for each project provides this information.
EmPower Mass Blog
Read these posts for a more detailed discussion of our work.
Project Spotlight: Nantucket Revolving Clean Energy Fund, September 13, 2022
Project Spotlight: Worcester HEART Partnership's Stakeholder Engagement, Workforce Development, and Retrofit Pilot, August 31, 2022
Project Spotlight: Solar Technical Assistance Retrofit (STAR) Program - Round II, August 5, 2022
Program Update: Establishing Connections and Building Networks, July 22, 2022
Program Update: Congratulations to Our First Round of Awardees, July 14, 2022
Program Overview: Innovating Access to Clean Energy Benefits, July 22, 2021