By Jerry Howard, KDRV
Washington, DC — Talent is one of three Oregon cities which are part of a new technology project today to store energy.
Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley this week announced Talent, Pendleton and Warm Springs were chosen by federal officials for “a cutting-edge energy storage program to increase energy resilience in the face of increasingly dangerous weather events and a changing climate.”
Oregon is the only state with multiple cities chosen for the program supported by assistance for those three Oregon communities and 11 others from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Storage for Social Equity (ES4SE) Initiative. ES4SE supports underserved communities’ use of energy storage to improve energy resilience and maximize energy flexibility in the face of a changing climate.
Selected as part of the new project’s first phase, chosen communities get technical support to assess their energy challenges, evaluate solutions and find partners to help the communities meet energy goals.
“Building out energy storage capacity is key as families in Oregon and across the nation have suffered severe impacts in recent years from the climate emergency in their communities – some losing power for days because of winter storms, and others losing their homes because of wildfires sparked by downed power lines,” said Senator Ron Wyden, who has introduced legislation to harden power grids nationwide.
Senator Jeff Merkley says, “Strengthening our energy storage capacity is an important step to keeping lights on in our businesses, schools, and homes. I’m grateful these three Oregonian communities are leading the way and will be considered to receive additional assistance to increase storage capacity. These weather events aren’t going to disappear overnight, and I will continue to do everything I can to secure the necessary resources to ensure our community’s energy sources are safe and dependable.”
The project’s second phase will focus on energy storage project development and deployment, where up to five communities will start installing and commissioning their projects.
Rogue Climate in Talent is one of the participants. It sees this effort as an opportunity to work on resiliency and storage aspects of the City of Talent’s Clean Energy Plan.
“In the aftermath of the Almeda fire, incorporating resilience is more urgent than ever. Talent aims to include clean energy infrastructure in the rebuilding process with an equity framework at the forefront, and the technical assistance with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will help us prioritize those who will benefit most from a more affordable and resilient energy system, while allowing our City Planning Department to prioritize their energy on rebuilding and bringing our community members back home. We are excited for this opportunity to work closely with the City of Talent, Solarize Rogue, and PNNL to create a shovel-ready project that the city can implement going forward,” said Maeve Hogan, Rogue Climate’s RARE AmeriCorps Resilience Organizer.
Nationally, more than 65% of low-income households face a high energy burden and more than 30% of all households have experienced some form of energy insecurity.
Warm Springs Community Action Team from Warm Springs and Coyote Steals Fire Energy Group from Pendleton are the other selected Oregon participants.
“Coyote Steals Fire Energy Group (CSF Energy) is supporting the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation with the installation of a solar PV powered microgrid with energy storage capabilities for the Tribal community. CSF Energy is a Umatilla Tribal Member owned energy project management and consulting firm based in Pendleton, Oregon that’s been bringing energy to the people since 2021. The project team extends its sincere gratitude to all those who have supported this endeavor, including the Energy Storage for Social Equity technical assistance program and Oregon Senators Wyden and Merkley,” said Patrick F. Mills, Vice President of Operations at Coyote Steals Fire Energy Group.