Community Benefits Grant Recipients Reaching Goals with Funding

Community Commitment

Last fall, CPA and Calpine Energy Solutions selected 10 non-profits in Clean Power Alliance’s service area to receive over $200,000 in grants focused on advancing energy initiatives.  

Through this innovative grant program, Calpine Energy Solutions, CPA’s customer support and billing services provider, invests 2% of the value of its contract with CPA back into our service area, to support community-focused programs.  

The grants are awarded to non-profits that advance energy-related programs, a commitment to disadvantaged communities, local energy equity and diversity programs and sustainability initiatives.  

Sustainable Claremont, a non-profit that works on environmental and social sustainability initiatives, received funding to support four clean energy interns to assist with public dialogue and social media engagement. Executive Director Stuart Wood said the funding helps their group accomplish several essential community goals.  

“At Sustainable Claremont, our mission is to engage people in education and action to create a more sustainable community – environmentally, socially, and economically. Funding from Calpine and CPA’s Community Grant program has helped us do just that,” said Wood. “Over the course of the last six months, with their support, we have been able to host a community dialog on our clean energy future, we have been able to provide regular newsletter and social media educational bits to our network of more than 5,000 community members, and most importantly, have been able to onboard four clean power paid interns who have led research projects that are now being used to inform the public!” 

The 10 selected recipients were awarded grants ranging from $9,500 to $30,000. In all, the program awarded nearly $204,000 to community organizations. 

2022 grantees included Active San Gabriel Valley, Climate Action Santa Monica, Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas, Columbia Memorial Space Center, Community Environmental Council, Grid Alternatives LA, Merito Foundation, Nyeland Promise, Pando Populus, and Sustainable Claremont.  

Amy Butte, Manager of Climate Action Santa Monica (CASM), was excited for the opportunity to dedicate support to critical youth programs, as CASM received funding for the CASM Climate Corps program for education and workforce development, which annually provides broad training opportunities on global climate issues as well as local systems and actions.  

“Climate Action Santa Monica is grateful to have been awarded a grant to support our Climate Corps youth program, which provides educational training for high school and college students to engage in local climate action and leadership,” said Butte.