Grants awarded to Maine communities to address climate effects and increase energy efficiency

AUGUSTA — The Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future announced that 13 Maine organizations have been awarded $497,377 in service provider grants through the Community Resilience Partnership to assist 41 communities across the state to address climate effects and build climate resilience. The 41 communities include Dexter and Guilford.

Of these communities, nearly 90 percent have fewer than 4,000 people and more than one-third are considered highly vulnerable to climate impacts per the Maine Social Vulnerability Index.

The 13 organizations receiving service provider grants include Eastern Maine Development Corporation.

Since the Community Resilience Partnership  was announced in December 2021, the program has awarded nearly $1.7 million to organizations to work with communities to enroll in the Partnership. For a searchable view of enrolled communities and communities working with service providers, please visit the Partnership’s online dashboard (https://www.maine.gov/future/climate/community-resilience-partnership/examples).

With these additional grants, a total of 228 Maine cities, towns, and Tribal governments are participating in the Partnership. In January, Gov. Janet Mills announced a goal of 275 communities participating by the end of 2024. The supplemental budget signed by Mills includes $5 million for the Community Resilience Partnership to help communities create local plans and take local action to address vulnerabilities to extreme weather and other climate effects.

For more information please visit the Community Resilience Partnership website at https://www.maine.gov/future/climate/community-resilience-partnership.