Energy Innovation for Resilient Communities
Many of Maine’s coastal communities are at the “end of the line”—they are often the first to lose power in a storm and the last to have it restored. This can have devastating impacts on health and wellbeing and local economies. Island Institute partners with communities to support strategic energy planning, provide technical assistance, and implement innovative solutions to get coastal communities the reliable and affordable energy they need.
As communities develop the tools understand their energy needs and how to meet them in a changing world, they move from planning to action—pursuing affordable and independent energy options that strengthen local resilience.
These efforts develop critical knowledge and partnerships that allow Maine to build out locally-owned and resilient energy production, ensuring reliable and affordable energy for all. Island Institute works with communities to build long-term economic and environmental security with a future powered by local energy and driven by community.
Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project
Rural coastal towns and islands face unique energy challenges that drive up costs and limit economic opportunities. The Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project (ETIPP) works with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and existing U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) efforts to build capacity, leverage expertise, and support rural and traditional economies to be innovative leaders in reliable and affordable power.
With ETIPP, Island Institute collaborates with rural towns and the U.S. national laboratories experts to address local energy needs while improving reliability and enhancing energy security. Projects are locally led and grounded in the economic realities of rural coastal towns and islands and their electrical grids. In addition to providing technical assistance to support strategic energy planning and deep dives into feasibility studies for specific technologies such as microgrids, ETIPP creates lasting relationships with key partners such as electric utilities. The project empowers local leaders to understand technology and optimize resource use, allowing for self-reliance and locally driven solutions. Read our pager to learn more about ETIPP. Click here to view the ETIPP application.
NREL Navigators Program
In partnership with National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Island Institute offers technical assistance through the Navigators program. This pilot program provides free assistance in planning and analysis to support communities and businesses in a wide range of possible scenarios, including identifying and comparing energy priorities, understanding the feasibility of extending 3-phase power to working waterfronts, or modeling backup energy solutions for town offices, schools and resilience hubs.
Island Institute works closely with entities working at the local level to help them understand their needs, bolster existing expertise, and open pathways to available resources and funding. Navigators equips local decision-makers with focused support to accelerate progress toward a more resilient and affordable energy future.
Stories: Energy Innovation in Community
Watch: Bombazine Oysters
Max Burtis of Bombazine Oysters (formerly Ferda Farms) is setting clean energy goals for his Brunswick-based oyster farm, and he's collaborating with Island Institute to achieve them.
Read: How nature steps up when waves get rough
When you step off the ferry onto Great Diamond Island, you might notice the inlet carved into the land past the rip rap. That inlet is the result of the “hardened” shoreline.
Watch: North Haven Oyster Company
Adam Campbell moved to North Haven in the late 1990s to become a commercial fisherman, and in the process, he became the steward of a piece of land that had long belonged to his wife’s family.
Read: Fellows Secure Major Grants for Island & Coastal Communities
Three Island Institute Fellows helped secure Community Resiliency Planning funds for host communities. We asked them to share the impacts on their island host communities.
Watch: Tremont Harbor Master's Office
During the 2024 winter storms, Tremont's town wharf was underwater and in peril of being lifted from its pilings. Watch this Story of Impact to learn about how Island Institute supported the construction of a new harbor master's office.
Read: A poor report card from Maine’s ocean
The devastating storms last winter prompt questions about the latest ocean climate science, or more specifically, what is coming this winter. We all have a role in turning the tide on these troubling trends. Our future depends on it.
Energizing Rural Communities Prize
A partnership between Island Institute and the Town of Eastport, the Energizing Rural Communities prize supports the easternmost town in the U.S. to develop strategies to improve their energy systems and advance clean energy demonstration projects. Eastport was the second largest trading port in the U.S. in the late 19th century, given its robust sardine and canning industry, but the factories have since closed, In the years since a diesel substation went offline, power has become more unreliable.
Unstable power along with high energy costs were among the energy resilience challenges that brought Eastport to the Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project (ET
IPP) in 2021. With assistance from Island Institute and researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Eastport created a strategic energy plan that included learning more about microgrid options to provide back-up power; coordinating with local energy efficiency and electrification efforts; and providing educational resources. The Energy prize has made these goals possible, including funding a local energy coordinator, weatherizing and electrifying homes, and understanding the feasibility of microgrid options for the community.
Offshore Wind Power in Maine
Warming seas, ocean acidification, and other negative impacts of climate change are a serious threat to Maine’s coast, our marine economy, and the livelihoods of those who live and work here. Offshore wind power offers strong potential to address the climate crisis, but it also raises complex, polarizing issues about how resources are allocated and decisions are made.
- We support clean energy.
- We support Maine fishermen and the marine economy.
- We are committed to bringing people together to create the best solutions for island and coastal communities and the Gulf of Maine.
Learn more about how we’re engaging on this important issue. Read our full statement here and a recent blog post on this topic.
In May, 2022 Island Institute signed on to a letter requesting that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Include a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement as part of identifying wind energy areas in the Gulf of Maine.
Electric Boats in Maine
Explore our toolkit for getting an e-boat on the water!
Learn about Electric BoatsThe Glenn Fund
Learn more about our grant programs.
Explore the Glenn Fund