Deadline: 30-Nov-21
The City of Portland is currently seeking applications for the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) to plan and implement projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve climate resiliency in ways that advance racial and social justice.
The Portland Clean Energy Fund is committed to providing meaningful access to the information and materials to all Portlanders. They recognize that people interested in PCEF may have different interests and needs.
Categories
Your funding request must be for work that falls within one or more of the PCEF funding categories defined in the legislative code. If you are applying to do planning work, you must be planning for a project within one or more of the PCEF funding categories. The funding categories are:
- Clean energy. Includes renewable energy and energy efficiency projects for residential, commercial, and school properties.
- Green infrastructure and regenerative agriculture. Focuses on projects that reduce greenhouse gases, improve water quality, and create a healthier urban environment.
- Workforce development and contractor support. Includes job training, apprenticeship programs, and business technical assistance, with a focus on economically disadvantaged workers and businesses.
- Innovation and other. Includes transportation projects and other projects that do not fall into one of the categories but supports program goals of addressing climate change and advancing racial and social justice.
Types of Funding
- Approximately $60 million in grant funds will be available under this request for proposals. In the future there will be approximately $35-45 million available two times per year, for a total of $60 to $80 million in annual funding for the next three years. Organizations can apply for more than one grant within a funding cycle and more than one grant in a funding category.
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The anticipated funding allocation for RFP 2 includes a total portfolio of around 75 grants comprised of:
- 20 – 25 planning grants
- 30 – 40 small grants
- 15 – 25 large grants
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Within this portfolio there are funding targets for each funding category, as defined in PCEF legislation. The funding targets for this year include the following:
- Clean energy: expected funding for this grant category is $24 to $36 million.
- Green infrastructure and regenerative agriculture: expected funding for this grant category is $6 to $9 million.
- Workforce development and contractor support: expected funding for this grant category is $12 to $15 million.
- Innovation and other: expected funding for this grant category is $3 million with a minimum allocation of $1.5 million for transportation projects that reduce GHG emissions.
Priority Populations
PCEF is designed to ensure that program investments benefit people who are most impacted by climate change and people who have historically been left out of the economic opportunity associated with climate projects. These populations are called out in the City code, referenced in application questions, and considered in scoring applications. It is important that organizations applying for PCEF grants understand how the two categories of priority populations are defined:
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For clean energy, green infrastructure, and regenerative agriculture projects priority populations are defined as:
- Black people
- Native American/Alaska Native people
- Other people of color
- People with low income
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For workforce and contractor development projects priority populations are defined as:
- Black people
- Native American/Alaska Native people
- Other people of color
- People with low income
- People who experience disabilities
- Women
- Transgender people
- Two-spirit people
- Gender non-conforming people and other groups of people who experience gender or sex-based discrimination.
Guiding Principles
The guiding principles are:
- Focused on climate action with multiple benefits. Invest in people, livelihoods, places, and processes that build climate resilience and community wealth, foster healthy communities, and support regenerative systems. Avoid and mitigate displacement, especially resulting from gentrification pressures.
- Justice driven. Advance systems change that addresses historic and current discrimination. Center all disadvantaged and marginalized groups – particularly Black and Indigenous people.
- Accountable. Implement transparent funding, oversight, and engagement processes that promote continuous learning, programmatic checks and balances, and improvement. Demonstrate achievement of equitable social, economic, and environmental benefit. Remain accountable to target beneficiaries, grantees, and all Portlanders.
- Community powered. Trust community knowledge, experience, innovation, and leadership. Honor and build on existing work and partnerships, while supporting capacity building for emerging community groups and diverse coalitions. Engage with and invest in community-driven approaches that foster community power to create meaningful change.
Eligibility Criteria
Qualified nonprofit organizations who meet all of the following requirements are eligible to apply for PCEF grant funds:
- Designated by the Federal government as a 501(c) or 521(a) nonprofit entity.
- Registered and certified with the Oregon Secretary of State as a nonprofit organization.
- NOT on the Oregon Department of Justice list of Disqualified Charities.
Newly formed or emerging groups who do not meet the 501(c) or 521(a) designation requirement, or eligible nonprofits who may benefit from additional administrative capacity, may apply for a PCEF grant with a fiscal sponsor. A fiscal sponsor is an eligible nonprofit organization that provides organizational infrastructure and administrative support for managing a grant.
For more information, visit City of Portland.
For more information, visit https://www.portland.gov/bps/cleanenergy/pcef-grant-guide
