Energy Trust’s Working Together Grants are a competitive funding opportunity to help nonprofit organizations reach and serve their customers and communities with clean energy solutions. With these grants, Energy Trust seeks to extend the benefits of energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy to more customers and create awareness for its programs and services. 

The application window is December 4 through January 10. Awards will be announced in February 2025.

Download Level One Grant Application (up to $5,000)

Download Level Two Grant Application (up to $10,000)
(MS Word DOCs)

Available Funding

Level One Grants up to $5,000:

Level One funding is available to help 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations conduct outreach, explore Energy Trust offers and build its capacity through education and training. Funding can support activities related to energy efficiency, clean energy and renewable energy for priority customers (communities of color, customers with low and moderate incomes and rural customers) in Energy Trust’s service area.

Costs must be itemized, and grants can be requested for any amount up to $5,000. Grant costs will be reviewed for reasonableness and applicants may receive follow-up questions to better understand itemized grant costs.

Allowable grant activities and costs include:

1. Increase priority community and customer awareness of clean energy solutions and Energy Trust offers

• • Printing or designing of materials
  • Translation and interpretation services
  • Meeting facilitation
  • Event costs, such as rental space and food
  • Costs and staff time for hosting trainings, workshops, and delvering education

2. Increase organization understanding and capability to support clean energy programs

• • Time to meet with Energy Trust to understand options and funding sources for working together
  • Staff training in energy technology or equipment that is supported by Energy Trust incentives
  • Staff training to support greater understanding of Energy Trust programs and services

Level One grants will be chosen based on our Level One Grant selection process. 

Level Two Grants up to $10,000:

Level Two funding can support the following program or project activities related to energy efficiency, clean energy and renewable energy for priority customers in Energy Trust’s service area.

Allowable grant activities and costs include:

1. Supplement an existing program or program in development that would result in priority customer participation in Energy Trust’s energy efficiency and renewable energy offers  

• • Costs can be in the categories of buying goods or services, staff, intern, or contractor time, costs for training, workshops or education

Level Two grants will be chosen based on our Level Two Grant selection process. 

Grant funds cannot be used:

• • For the purchase or installation of home repairs, energy efficiency or renewable energy equipment  
  • To fund projects covered through Energy Trust existing programs, services and incentives  
  • To encourage changing existing fuel sources 
  • For direct lobbying or political activities 

Our existing programs support a wide range of home and equipment upgrades. For more information on residential, commercial equipment upgrades or solar incentives call 1.866.368.7878. 

How to Apply

Before filling out an application for grant funding, please read through the eligibility requirements, deadlines and other important details to ensure your project meets grant requirements, purpose and expectations.

Once you’ve read through the offer and eligibility criteria, apply for a Level One Grant (DOC) (up to $5,000) or apply for a Level Two Grant (DOC) (up to $10,000).

Applications are due at 5 p.m. on Friday, January 10. Grant recipients will be announced in February.

Our staff are available to help with the application process and answer any questions . Please reach out to us at WorkingTogetherGrants@energytrust.org for assistance and if you are unsure whether an activity is eligible for a Working Together Grant.

Energy Trust reserves the right to not fund any applicant applying for grant funds for any reason.

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Eligibility

Organizations eligible for Working Together Grants must meet the following criteria:   

• • Registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity in Oregon or Washington
  • Organizations or groups who are currently in the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) may apply with a fiscal sponsor, which is a qualified nonprofit organization that provides organizational infrastructure and administrative support for managing a grant.
  • Applicant or fiscal sponsor does not appear on the Oregon Department of Justice list of Disqualified Charities

Activities must: 

• • Benefit utility customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural, Cascade Natural Gas or Avista
  • Benefit communities of color, customers experiencing low or moderate incomes and/or rural communities. For information about Energy Trust’s diversity, equity and inclusion plan and goals, view our plan here
  • Align with grant purpose to support activities that meet applicant goals while also helping diverse communities access and participate in Energy Trust offers and services

Additional requirements and details:   

• • Organizations can apply for only one grant (either Level One or Level Two) per funding cycle   
  • Organizations receiving other funds from Energy Trust are invited to apply but grant activities must be outside the scope of other funds 

Selection Process

Energy Trust will review all applications for eligibility requirements. Applications will also be pre-screened to determine if the proposed activities could be served through existing program offers rather than grant funds. Energy Trust reserves the right to not fund any applicant applying for grant funds for any reason.

Level One Grants (up to $5,000) Selection Process 

Staff will prescreen applications to ensure that proposed activities and costs align with grant purpose.

Applications will be grouped into five tiers allowing Energy Trust to prioritize funding for this round. Tiers are determined by alignment with the following categories: 

• • How well the organization reflects and serves grant priority communities 
    • Communities of color 
    • Customers with low and moderate incomes 
    • Rural customers 
  • If the organization is located outside of the City of Portland and does not have access to the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund mini grant offer  
  • Whether organization has applied for a Working Together Grant previously, with preference given to first-time applicants 
  • Organization size, with preference given to smaller organizations  

Funding will be awarded starting with applications in tier one, then on to tier two. The process will repeat down the tiers until all  funding has been allocated. If there are more applications than funds available in a tier, awards will be made through random selection.

Tiers may be updated in future rounds to ensure equitable distribution of funds across funding rounds. 

*Rural community: For the purposes of this grant round, rural is defined as communities with populations under 25,000. 

Level Two Grants (up to $10,000) Selection Process 

Staff will prescreen applications to ensure that proposed activities and costs align with the grant purpose.

All eligible applications advancing through prescreening will be scored by a diverse grant review team. The team will evaluate and score all eligible grant applications. Applications will be scored in two groups: organizations located in the Portland metro area* and organizations located outside the Portland metro area. This is to ensure grants are awarded to applicants from across Energy Trust’s service area.

We anticipate we will receive more requests for funding for Level Two grants than we have funds for this round. Priority will be given to applications that:

• • Align most directly with grant objectives  
  • Demonstrate ability to manage and implement planned activities with grant funds  
  • Highlight greatest community and organization impact 
  • Deliver greatest benefit to Energy Trust customers and diversity, equity and inclusion priority customers   
  • Meet current funding round priorities:
    • Organizations that received funding previously will be considered for funding if funding remains after other applicants are scored
    • A distribution of awardees from across Energy Trust service area and priority customers served

*Portland metro area is Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill counties in Oregon and Clark and Skamania counties in Washington.

Grant Completion

Each grant awardee will be connected with an Energy Trust staff member to help coordinate and facilitate completion of grant activities.

We anticipate that most awardees will have a plan for how they will complete grant activities and will not require significant staff time by Energy Trust to complete.

All awardees must submit a final report by November 1, 2025.