The U.S. Department of Energy named 67 winners for its Energizing Rural Communities Prize. One of them is Shake Energy Collaborative in Hawaiʻi.
The goal of the $6.7 million in federal funding is to support rural communities in improving their energy systems and advancing clean energy projects. Each project was awarded $100,000.
Ali Andrews is the CEO of Shake Energy Collaborative. She said the funding will increase the organization’s capacity to assist Hawaiʻi communities in renewable energy development.
“Shake’s role is we are the co-development partner for the community groups that want to pursue the energy projects. The community group is the owner of the project, the designer of the project, and we are kind of their partner in navigating the design," Andrews said.
"And then once they decided on what kind of project they want to pursue, then we help them develop that project.”
She said forming a cooperative entity is intensive work for community groups wanting to take ownership of their energy future.
That means lots of needs — like insurance, subscriber management, accounting and other administrative tasks.
“And so the idea is that we as an entity that partners with all of these different smaller community groups can help create the like network between the cooperatives to share those costs and those services," Andrews said.
Shake has been working with Ho’ahu Energy Cooperative Molokaʻi, which has two larger-scale community solar projects under contract in the development phase. Following in Molokaʻi’s footsteps is the Waiʻanae Sustainability Co-op on Oʻahu that will serve the homestead community there.
Andrews said she thinks the Department of Energy’s funding is a strong recognition of communities’ desires for local, ground-up energy planning.
