Sustainable Northwest believes wide-scale microgrid development is an important strategy for increasing energy resilience in rural and tribal communities. Microgrids will provide greater energy independence, resilience, and flexibility for rural and tribal communities. Beginning in 2022, Sustainable Northwest’s Making Energy Work Policy Committee began exploring what policies are needed in Oregon to make microgrids more accessible and affordable.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at our Fall Energy Symposium, and a special thank you to our event sponsors Energy Trust of Oregon, Wy’East RC&D, Oregon Dept. of Energy, Wisewood, and Oregon Clean Power Co-op.

Maybe you’ve heard about the Inflation Reduction Act? Congress passed it and the president signed it – along with another law, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – in 2022. Now in 2023, funds are beginning to flow to communities. Sustainable Northwest and its partners are leveraging some of these funds for projects that benefit nature, people, and local economies.

Project Greenlight aims to provide tools and technical assistance to rural communities and Tribal Nations to create and implement the complex funding plans often required for clean energy projects. Our goal is to develop a “full-service” hub, built to move planned projects from concept to construction.

One year ago we endeavored to build upon the momentum of our growing Making Energy Work for Rural Oregon (MEW) coalition by launching a MEW Policy Committee to advocate for energy policies that support an equitable energy transition for rural Oregonians.

On April 19th, 2023, a network of rural energy stakeholders from across Oregon gathered in Lake County, Oregon, at the PLAYA Center on Summer Lake, for the second annual Statewide Rural Energy Convening.

Sustainable Northwest and our Electric Farms (E-FARMS) partners – WyEast RC&D, Forth Mobility, and Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) – hosted an electric tractor demonstration day with The Black Food Sovereignty Coalition (BFSC).

Check out the latest blog post from EnergyTrust of Oregon, sharing Cameron and Garrett Duncan's efforts at making their ranching and farming operations in the Upper Klamath Basin as sustainable as possible.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at our Fall Energy Symposium, and a special thank you to our event co-hosts, Energy Trust of Oregon, and the City of Pendleton, for their support!

Sustainable Northwest board members, staff, and partners gathered in Joseph, Oregon for a deep dive into our new Regenerative Ranching program.

After two years of lockdown, social distancing, and Zoom happy hours, Sustainable Northwest was eager to kickoff summer 2022 with our first in-person board meeting and field tour since 2019.

The community solar array (141.6 kW-DC) on top of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) production building in Talent, OR, has been operational since March 2022 and supplies power to 19 households from Rogue River to Green Springs.

A new study of electric tractors used on farms in Crook, Jackson, and Wasco counties in Oregon highlights the compelling case for the technology's economic, health, and climate benefits.

Grace is an AmeriCorps member with Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE), a program that increases capacity for communities across Oregon to tackle community-based projects.