Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced five awards for projects in Alaska under the Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) program.

This $1 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law aims to improve the resilience, reliability, and affordability of energy systems in communities across the country with 10,000 or fewer people. ERA aims to fund community-driven energy projects that demonstrate new energy systems, deliver measurable benefits to customers and build clean energy knowledge and capacity throughout rural America.

“The Arctic Energy Office is thrilled to see these projects getting supported through the competitive process under the Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas program,” said Erin Whitney, Director of the Arctic Energy Office. “This amount of funding for Alaskans – up to $36.02 million for all phases of the competitive awards, and $12.3 million across the three grant recipients – shows the caliber of the applications from Alaska and the need for our state’s residents for infrastructure and clean energy project support.”