Update: Islesboro CEAT

We formed the Islesboro Community Energy Action Team back in January, 2015. Our team consists of CJ, a senior in high school and our cartoon artist extraordinaire; Tres, also a teenager, homeschooler and an expert seaman; Kendra, our fantastic Island Institute Fellow; and the two wise elders, Paula Mirk and Toby Martin. Islesboro is the long (it used to be called “Long Island”) narrow island just below Verona Island at the mouth of the Penobscot River. We have a year-round population of less than 1,000, and a summer population of more than 2,000.

Update: East Casco Bay CEAT

An update on the work going on with the East Casco Bay Community Energy Action Team (CEAT), one of five teams pioneering intergenerational education and leadership around energy issues in seven year-round island communities in Maine.

Welcome from the Community Energy Team

The Island Institute’s Community Energy Program supports island communities in reducing their energy costs and increasing the reliability and sustainability of island electricity and heating infrastructure.

Welcome to our blog

Welcome to the Island Institute’s blog. We’ll share interviews, photos, and stories from our staff, partners, and program participants about the issues facing our islands and coast and what we are doing to address them on a day-to-day basis. We’ll keep it informative and varied. Check back every week or so for new posts.

If you’re wondering about an aspect of our work, want to suggest a blog post, or have any comments, please contact us

WINDExchange Summit Participants Learn More about Wind Industry’s Status, Successes, and Challenges

The U.S. Department of Energy’s WINDExchange Summit in Orlando on May 18 provided an opportunity for the audience to learn more about the current status of the wind energy industry. The audience included members of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), national lab representatives, Regional Resource Centers, state energy officials, and professional and institutional partners.

Green-Energy Inspiration Off the Coast of Denmark

The New York Times reporter Diane Cardwell follows the participants in the CIERA program—the first of many planned collaborative projects between the Island Institute and College of the Atlantic—as they travel from Maine to the island of Samsø, Denmark, which is powered by 100% renewable energy.

Island Institute Awarded Grant for Energy Efficiency Work

ROCKLAND, ME—The Island Institute today announced that it has received a grant of $90,285 from the Grants to Green Maine program for energy efficiency upgrades to its headquarters in Rockland. The grant will be used to make energy-saving retrofits to the historic building, including a new, high-efficiency wood pellet boiler. Work on the upgrades is expected to begin in January.

Conference to be held on energy challenges for New England islands

PORTLAND, ME—The Island Institute will host the Fifth Annual Island Energy Conference  on November 7th in Portland, Maine. The event will bring together energy experts and island leaders from New England’s year-round island communities and beyond to discuss common energy challenges and to learn more about resources that exist to address those challenges.