ACTT’s Work Right Now

As we move into the fall and begin to prepare our annual report as well as our strategic plan for 2025, we wanted to share this update on our work right now with the broader community. Thank you for reading!

Equitable Renewable Energy Transition

• Microgrid-Based Resilience Hubs

• Over the past two years, ACTT has participated in a technical assistance program through the U.S. Department of Energy known as the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project or ETIPP. Through this program, ACTT has received extensive technical assistance from Sandia National Laboratories and has focused this support on planning efforts related to microgrid-based resilience hubs for the island. The work has included running analyses of social burden (a measure of the impact power outages have on different parts of the island population) and running preliminary plans for clean energy microgrids for several potential locations. ACTT staff are getting trained in a tool from Sandia called Microgrid Design Toolkit, ensuring that we are able to continue design work when the technical assistance is complete. While the social burden analysis has taken some time for the national lab to complete, we will be receiving the results later this fall and will plan a forum to share the information with the community. 

In late September, ACTT Manager of Renewable Energy Planning and Policy Beth Woolfolk traveled to an ETIPP conference in Alaska, where she participated in collective learning and resource sharing with other ETIPP communities and the national laboratories and spoke on a panel focused on community experiences working with utility companies. 

• We have been exploring specific potentials for microgrid-based renewable energy resilience hubs in Tremont and Southwest Harbor, the two towns on the island with the highest number of outages and greatest social burden during outages. We are following specific grant potentials through the federal government that could fund implementation.

• Municipal solar

• ACTT is formally supporting the town of Mount Desert in the development of distributed municipal arrays on town buildings. The pre-development for these arrays was funded by the Maine Community Resilience Partnership and the town approved a bond to fund phase one of development, which began in September this year. The town is working with Solar Logix as the project installer, and ACTT is providing project management support. 

• We are also supporting Southwest Harbor in the pre-development exploration of potential sites for municipal arrays. This work, also funded through the Community Resilience Partnership grant program, has illuminated potential locations to integrate battery storage and smart grid technology to create a potential microgrid-based resilience hub.

• Co-op solar

• The MDI Co-op Solar Steering Committee continues to meet regularly. Due to challenges related to high interconnection costs, which, in turn, cripple the economic model necessary for co-op solar, for the time being, the steering committee has shifted the near-term goal to exploring other models to make solar ownership accessible to low-income homeowners while continuing to pursue co-op solar as a longer-term solution. In the co-op work, we have a strong partner in the Center for an Ecology-Based Economy (CEBE) out of Norway, Maine. CEBE has been working on co-op solar alongside ACTT and exists in a very different scenario: their utility, Central Maine Power, is far more cooperative in interconnecting solar projects, there is more land or other larger spaces to site arrays, and CEBE has also been able to access significant grant support for the project (support that ACTT is not eligible for when working on MDI as, due to the tax base on the island, MDI does not rank as vulnerable/high need/at risk/etc. in any of the Justice 40 measurements attached to federal funding). 

• Solar for nonprofits

• Beth, ACTT’s Manager of Renewable Energy Planning and Policy, continues to work with several nonprofits on MDI to support their transition to renewable energy. 

• Interconnection and other state regulatory and legislative changes

• As many know, Versant Power has continued to fail the interconnection of solar projects of all sizes with little transparency, predictability, and often with very high costs associated if interconnection does become feasible (particularly for larger projects). This behavior not only slows the adoption of clean energy, it is also an equity issue, as small towns, nonprofits, small businesses, homeowners, and models like co-op solar that are designed to bring solar ownership to low and moderate-income community members cannot deal with high costs or legal fees. Navigating the process also, increasingly, requires a higher degree of energy knowledge, which creates another access barrier. 

ACTT continues to work on improving the interconnection process across Maine, as well as identifying other important changes needed in the regulatory process through the Maine Public Utilities Commission and through the Maine State Legislature. We are working to build a network of advocacy with stakeholders throughout the state and to increase community-level representation at the Maine Public Utilities Commission, key legislative processes, and at important state-level planning processes, all with the focus on better policy, planning, and regulation that supports an equitable transition to clean energy. 

• Island-wide planning

• When ACTT began in the fall of 2015, we set a goal of “Energy independence by 2030”. Over the years, as we have worked on community-driven climate solutions, we have deepened our understanding of what is needed and why, and our goals have developed accordingly. Additionally, we have come to understand that the transition to renewable energy can happen in very different ways. We have experienced first-hand the benefits of a community-driven approach to the energy transition, one that prioritizes local ownership of renewable energy resources, aligns with local priorities and needs, and builds local resilience and leadership. We have brought what we have learned to state level discussions and planning processes related to the energy transition and communities throughout Maine and beyond.

  As we have done this work, the need has become clear for a map demonstrating how Mount Desert Island might transition off fossil fuels through different approaches and the impacts each approach might have on the community in terms of equity, resilience, land use, and other key factors. This map will help the community make decisions and will also clarify necessary changes in policy and regulation from the state to best support communities in their transition away from fossil fuels.

  ACTT is working to develop this map. The process is complex and must also be balanced with day-to-day project work. We will keep the community updated and look forward to sharing this resource widely once it is completed. 

• Building performance solutions

• ACTT has spent the past year considering the best next steps to support increased efficiency of MDI’s buildings. Efficiency is an essential climate solution; as we electrify heating and transportation, we must ensure that we are using energy as efficiently as possible. Heating Maine’s old housing stock makes up a significant portion of the state’s emissions. For example, when ACTT completed greenhouse gas inventories for the towns of Mount Desert and Tremont, after transportation, heating buildings was the most significant source of emissions. Heat pumps are an important part of the solutions and widely promoted and supported by Efficiency Maine Trust. However, it is important to properly insulate homes both to ensure heat pumps are effective and to reduce our demand for electricity, an essential climate solution as we electrify heating/cooling and transportation. Fortunately, increasing the efficiency of buildings is a win-win-win, as properly weatherized buildings lower energy costs for the owner and are more comfortable to live in year-round. Insulation and air sealing are also building solutions that are supported with rebates through Efficiency Maine Trust.

  After running two Weatherize campaigns and conducting widespread education on a comprehensive approach to building solutions (considering efficiency, electrification, and the switch to renewables together), we have spent time considering how best to serve the local community in accessing the extensive rebates currently available for efficiency upgrades. Hearing repeatedly that the process can be overwhelming to navigate, particularly when combined with day-to-day needs and schedules, we are preparing to pilot a “neighbor-to-neighbor” approach to energy coaching on the island, incorporating models currently underway in communities like York and Brooklin and drawing in effective resources from nearby states like Massachusetts. Stay tuned for a launch in early 2025!

Community-Driven Resilience Building

• Support for MDI towns in planning and implementation

• Community Resilience Planning & Implementation - We are supporting several of the island towns in community resilience planning and implementation. Developing a plan focused on locally specific priorities, challenges, and goals that can be integrated into comprehensive plans helps the town streamline projects, apply for funding, and anticipate best next steps. For example, ACTT worked with the Town of Tremont, funded by a grant through the Maine Community Resilience Partnership, to develop the Tremont Community Resilience Plan. The planning process was rooted in community input and feedback and passed with a near-unanimous vote in May’s Town Meeting. A detailed implementation guide accompanies the plan, with resources including funding, technical assistance, and more targeted for each strategy within the plan. ACTT is supporting the town in first implementation steps, collaborating with the Tremont Sustainability Committee. 

• Warming/cooling centers & peer-to-peer check-in networks - Alongside more complex microgrid-based resilience hubs, ACTT is currently supporting both Mount Desert and Tremont in considering additional sites for warming/cooling centers to be available during longer power outages or during other emergency events, strategically sites to consider service to community members during potential flooding incidents. Additionally, we are working with the same two towns on plans for potential peer-to-peer check-in networks to support community members in being alert to extreme weather and other emergency events and supported in both preparedness and response. This work is also funded by a Community Resilience Partnership grant.

• Vulnerability assessments & updates to county level EMA Hazard Mitigation Plans - Three of the four MDI towns - Tremont, Mount Desert, and Southwest Harbor - are receiving or have completed vulnerability assessments with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI). ACTT helped write grants to fund this work for each town. The assessments cover infrastructure but don’t stop there, also considering impacts to the local economy, vulnerable populations, and more. ACTT will bring the results of these assessments to the county to inform the next update of the county’s EMA Hazard Mitigation Plan, as the last update did not appear to consider sea-level rise and other climate related impacts. 

• Next steps with Community Resilience Partnership grant announcement - The Maine Community Resilience Partnership has announced a new cycle of grants with increased funding opportunities for Maine municipal and tribal governments. ACTT is supporting interested MDI towns in considering and developing grant applications to support next steps in climate mitigation and resilience building work. 

Empowerment Through Education & Collaboration

While our project work is still based in the communities on MDI, we are committed to sharing what we have learned with communities throughout Maine and beyond. Through this sharing and collaboration, we further community-driven climate solutions together.

• Local Leads the Way - ACTT’s program supporting community-driven climate action groups throughout Maine and beyond with three years of near-monthly meetings as of this January 2025! We continue to gather each month with folks from towns throughout the state (and occasionally from beyond Maine) to share resources, engage in trainings together, develop collaborative efforts, plan joint advocacy, and generally support one another. ACTT also occasionally supports other communities with individual mentorship. This fall, the Local Leads the Way community collectively considered what is most needed right now to support community-driven climate response. The process re-energized ACTT’s work developing a toolkit on community-driven climate action (as a small organization, we are constantly balancing time spent on statewide resources like this toolkit with on-the-ground project work on Mount Desert Island). 

• SOLVE IT, Community-Driven Energy Solutions Workshop Series - In May of this year, A Climate to Thrive won the SOLVE IT Prize through the U.S. Department of Energy. Our submission, developed in collaboration with the Center for an Ecology-Based Economy (CEBE), was one of 25 selected out of over 1,000 submissions. We focused our submission on a workshop series developed to support and facilitate participating towns in community-driven renewable energy and energy efficiency planning. Over the past two years, we’ve repeatedly received requests for a resource like this, as many rural Maine communities consider how best to participate in the transition to renewable energy. We were delighted to partner with CEBE to develop the pilot program for three towns in Western, Maine. Over the past months, we have developed the workshop, including a game scenario to facilitate community-driven energy planning, and we traveled to Norway, Maine twice to deliver the first two workshops. The series will continue over the coming months, as we support the three participating towns in considering a submission for Phase Two funding from the same prize program. 

• Climate Ambassadors Program - The next session of the Climate Ambassadors Program will take place online on Thursdays from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. beginning Thursday, January 9 and ending Thursday, February 6. Folks of all ages and backgrounds from throughout Maine (and beyond!) are invited to join this five-week series that supports participants in studying basic climate science; learning about top solutions at the international, national, and state and local levels; exploring effective climate communication; and mapping their own path for sustainable, impactful engagement. 

Meanwhile, ACTT Intern Angie Flores has been developing a Climate Ambassadors curriculum for middle school students. We are currently communicating with several local schools to identify the best pilot location for the curriculum.