 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
More Sample Grant Proposals |
Sample Grant Proposal: Low-Income Wind Energy Project
15
Key Immediate Outcomes for Intervention 5
CBOs gain knowledge about energy assistance programs that discourage family crisis and
present “win-win” situation for utilities and clients.
Key Intermediate Outcomes for Intervention 5
Energy assistance programs put in place to distribute energy to target households.
Performance Goals for Intervention 5
Reduce the energy burden of 12,000 LIHEAP-eligible families by 20%
For the 12,000 target families, reduce disconnects by 20%.
For the 12,000 target families, increase regularity of payments by 15%.
For the 12,000 target families, reduce mobility (a predictor of homelessness) by 15%.
Improve the health and safety of vulnerable households by reducing the energy burden for
3,700 families that include an elderly person, 3,000 families that include a disabled person,
and 2,900 families that include a young child.
Significant and Beneficial Impact
Using a conservative estimate of 28% turbine effectiveness, 12 MW of capacity will generate
29,400 MWh annually (12 MW x 24 hours x 365 days x 28%). The average household in
Washington uses 12 MWh annually. Therefore, each year the project could fully cover the
energy needs of over 2,400 families. Or each year the project can reduce the energy burden of
over 12,000 families by an average of 20%. Although the REACh project will last only three
years, the average life of a wind turbine facility is 20 years.
Over its viable life, the project will generate 588,000 MWh of electricity.
This is enough energy to reduce by 20% the energy burden of 245,000 families for one year.
A LIHEAP program of equivalent size in Seattle (where the residential marginal block rate is
8.66 cents per kWh) would require $50.9 million in funding.
Therefore, the project has a potential leverage of 50:1.
Even if energy costs rise over time, project impact will not erode, because benefits are
denominated in MWh rather than dollars.
One of the key components to self-sufficiency is the ability to afford basic needs, such as
heating, cooking, lighting, refrigeration, water heating and appliances. Wage earners and
children cannot go off to school and work and perform successfully if they live in the dark,
cannot cook food or have adequate warmth. This project promotes self-sufficiency by ensuring
those basic needs are met by having affordable energy bills and energy-efficient homes and
appliances, coupled with an education component. CBOs have noted that low-income families
have a higher mobility than the general population. Often, a move is precipitated by inability to
pay the utility bill. Once a family moves away from its support structures, its chances of
becoming homeless greatly increase. Therefore mobility is a precursor to homelessness. By
reducing energy burdens, the project will reduce mobility, and therfore homelessness, caused by
inability to pay utility bills.
Once wind projects have begun generating power, CBOs have many options to choose among
for deploying the energy assistance. They can tailor programs to the needs of their local target
