Cedar Ridge Clean Energy Innovation Lab

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Executive Summary

Cedar Ridge Clean Energy Innovation Lab is a nonprofit in Ohio that tests, demonstrates and independently measures clean energy technology in real communities, so that promising solar, battery storage and building electrification tools reach the homes, community buildings and small businesses that need them most, and so that decisions about them are made from real performance data and not from sales claims. We bench-test emerging technologies in a safe lab, install proven systems at community resilience hubs and in income-qualified homes through licensed contractors, measure what each system actually does and publish the results in plain language, including when a technology underperforms. Equipment and services are paid to vendors and contractors, never as cash to a host. There is no charge to the community organizations or households that host a project.

Clean energy technology is moving faster than the places that most need it can evaluate. A food pantry that loses refrigeration in a storm, a clinic that cannot keep vaccines cold during an outage and a family whose heating bill takes a quarter of the household budget all hear about solar panels, batteries and heat pumps. But they often have no independent way to know which products and designs work in their building, what they cost to install and run, whether they are safe and what is promised by a sales representative versus what is delivered. Small utilities, local governments and community organizations rarely have an engineer on staff. Promising technologies stall between the laboratory and the community.

With this grant we will complete about 15 field projects in Year 1, opening in about Month 3: 3 community resilience hubs with solar and battery storage and about 12 homes with heat pump water heaters and smart controls. We will bench-test about 6 emerging technologies, employ about 8 paid student technician interns and publish about 2 public reports. Our goal is that every system is installed by a licensed contractor and passes inspection and utility approval before it is switched on, that every project is measured against a plan set before installation and that every result is published whether it is good, mixed or poor. We do not promise that any technology will cut a particular household's bills, that any incentive will be available or that any system will perform as a manufacturer claims.

Our Year 1 budget: about $582,000, growing to about $886,000 by Year 5. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 6 paid staff in Year 1 and 10 by Year 5. Government energy contracts and utility program funds, together with corporate and foundation partners, add steady support, so grants fall from about 73% of our income in Year 1 to about 52% in Year 5.

We are asking the Clean Energy Innovation Fund for $120,000 for one Project Engineer, solar, battery storage and heat pump equipment for demonstration sites, purchased from vendors, and licensed installation and independent measurement and verification paid to contractors. Government contracts, utility programs, other grants and corporate and foundation partners cover the rest, so this grant is one part of a shared funding plan.

I am Daniel Okafor, the Executive Director, a licensed Professional Engineer and former utility distribution engineer who managed a community solar-plus-storage pilot with a university partner for five years before founding this organization. The numbers in this proposal are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end, not promises.

Company Description

Cedar Ridge Clean Energy Innovation Lab is a nonprofit organization in Ohio. We are a 501(c)(3) public charity (or a program of one, through a fiscal sponsor), governed by a volunteer board of directors. We will provide our IRS determination letter, board list and most recent financial statements with this proposal.

Our mission. To help communities adopt clean, reliable and affordable energy by testing technology in the real world, measuring what works and sharing what we learn with everyone.

What we believe. Clean energy should not be a privilege of the communities with the most money and the most engineers. The communities that stand to gain the most, including low-income households, rural towns and the organizations that serve them, are often the last to benefit and the first to be sold something that does not fit. Good technology decisions need independent evidence, a licensed professional who answers to the community and not to a product line and honest reporting when a technology falls short. We would rather publish an unwelcome result than hide it.

How we started. Cedar Ridge Clean Energy Innovation Lab began when our founder, then an engineer at an electric utility, helped a county food bank add solar panels and a battery so its freezers would survive outages. The project worked, but it took a year because no one in the county could say which design was safe, which vendor was reliable or how the system should be monitored. She later ran a small community solar-plus-storage pilot with a university partner, installed five systems and published the data. Local governments and community organizations began asking her to evaluate technologies they were considering. A local foundation and the state energy office asked whether she could build that work into a standalone nonprofit. This proposal asks for support to do that.

What we offer:
- Bench testing. In a lab with a fire-rated battery test area, we test emerging technologies such as smart controls for heat pumps, second-life batteries and vehicle charging equipment before any field use, and we publish the results.
- Community resilience hubs. We help community organizations that serve people in an emergency, such as food pantries, senior centers and clinics, install solar panels and battery storage so they can keep essential services running during an outage. Systems are purchased from vendors and installed by licensed contractors.
- Efficient electric homes. With a community action agency partner, we place heat pump water heaters and smart controls in income-qualified homes at no cost to the household, and measure what they do to energy use and comfort.
- Independent measurement and verification. Every project is measured against a plan written before installation, using accepted measurement and verification methods, and analyzed by an independent evaluator.
- Open data and public reports. We publish plain-language reports and, with host permission, public data dashboards, so any community can learn from what we find.
- Workforce pathways. We employ paid student technician interns from community colleges and technical schools, who learn safety, installation basics and data collection alongside licensed professionals.
- Technical help for local decisions. We answer questions from municipalities, schools and community organizations about the technologies they are considering, at no charge and without selling anything.
- Accessibility and equity. We prioritize sites and households that serve low-income, rural and underserved communities, and we publish materials in plain language and in the languages our partners tell us are needed.

Who we serve. Community organizations that serve people in an emergency, income-qualified households, small local governments and small utilities in our Ohio service area, along with the students and technicians who want to enter the clean energy workforce. Some funding and incentive programs have their own eligibility rules, which we confirm for each one. We do not charge hosts or households for any equipment, installation or service we provide under a project.

What we do not do. We are not a utility, an energy retailer, an installation contractor or a manufacturer. We do not sell electricity, equipment or services. We do not give cash to a host or a household. We do not accept payment from a manufacturer to test its product. We do not give legal, tax or financial advice, and we do not promise that any technology will reduce a particular household's bills or that any incentive will be available when a household applies.

How we are run. A seven-member volunteer board of directors oversees the organization and approves the budget each year. The board includes a licensed Professional Engineer, a community college energy technology instructor, a community action agency director, a local government sustainability officer, a representative of a community organization that hosts a project, an attorney and a certified public accountant. The Executive Director manages the organization, the Program Director runs the program and an outside accountant reviews our books every year.

Where things stand today. We have letters of support from a county food bank, a senior center, a community action agency, a community college, a municipal utility and two equipment suppliers. We have a letter of intent for a lab and office space in a former industrial building. Before we begin, we will confirm Ohio's requirements for interconnection, permitting and licensing, have an attorney review our host agreements and data policies, and confirm any requirements of our funders.

Problem & Opportunity

Clean energy technology is changing quickly, and the benefits are not reaching everyone. Solar panels, battery storage, heat pumps and smart controls can lower energy costs, keep essential services running during outages and cut pollution. But in many communities in our service area, the households and organizations that could gain the most are the least able to evaluate, afford or install these tools. Low-income households typically spend a much larger share of their income on energy than other households, and many live in older homes that are hard to heat and cool. Community organizations that serve people in an emergency often operate on thin budgets and in buildings they cannot easily modify.

The consequences are concrete. A food pantry that loses a week of food when a storm cuts power. A senior center that cannot open as a cooling shelter on the hottest day of the summer. A clinic that cannot keep medicine cold. A family that runs a space heater because the furnace failed and a replacement is out of reach. A small town that is offered a battery system by a vendor and has no engineer to say whether the price, the design or the safety plan is reasonable. A technician graduate who cannot find an employer who will take a chance on a person with no field experience.

The root causes are well understood and persistent. Promising technologies often stall between the laboratory and the community: manufacturers test in controlled conditions, utilities run pilots whose data may not be shared, and small communities rarely have the engineers to review a proposal. Performance claims are often made by the party selling the product. Real-world results vary with climate, building condition, use and installation quality, and there are few independent, public data sets from communities like ours. Safety matters too: battery storage and electrical systems demand licensed installation, careful siting, inspection and emergency planning, and a poorly planned project can create risk instead of resilience. Incentives and rules for solar, storage and electrification change often, and applying for them can take expertise that small organizations do not have.

The workforce gap compounds the problem. Utilities, contractors and manufacturers say they cannot find enough trained technicians, while many community college students have no paid way to gain field experience. Short, supervised, paid internships on real projects can help, but few organizations offer them in a way that is safe and open to students who would otherwise be shut out.

We want to be clear about what we know and do not know. A technology that performs well in one building may not in another, and a pilot is not a proof. Savings depend on rates, weather, behavior and equipment. We will measure what we can, such as energy produced and used, the performance of backup power during outages, comfort and household-reported experience, equipment problems and cost, and share results honestly, including limitations. We will use the most recent state, utility and federal energy data in our final application and will not overstate the opportunity.

Products & Services

Cedar Ridge Clean Energy Innovation Lab will run a clean energy innovation and demonstration program with a Program Director, Project Engineers, a Measurement and Verification Analyst, a Community and Workforce Partnerships Coordinator and an Executive Director, with licensed contractors for installation and an independent evaluator for analysis, and will provide demonstration projects, bench testing, measurement and public reporting at no cost to hosts or households.

How it works, step by step:
1. Request and scoping. A community organization, local government or agency brings us a question or a need: a facility that wants backup power, a group of homes with high energy costs or a technology a utility wants to test. We meet with the host and agree on the question the project should answer.
2. Technology and site review. A Project Engineer reviews the site, the electrical service, the building and the technology, and the Program Director reviews the safety plan. A technology that cannot be installed safely or that does not fit the site is not installed, and we tell the host why.
3. Bench testing. Where a technology is new, we test it first in our lab, with protective gear and a fire-rated test area, and share what we learn with the host before any field installation.
4. Project design and plan. We design the project with the host and a licensed contractor, and write a measurement plan before installation: what will be measured, how and for how long, and how results will be judged. The plan is registered with our independent evaluator, so results cannot be reshaped after the fact.
5. Agreements and approvals. A written host agreement sets out who owns the equipment, what data will be collected, how long monitoring lasts, who is responsible for maintenance and insurance and what happens at the end. Permits, utility interconnection approval and inspections are completed before a system is switched on.
6. Installation. Equipment is purchased from vendors and installed by licensed, insured contractors. Student interns observe and assist under supervision, and never work on energized equipment.
7. Commissioning and monitoring. We commission each system, train the host's staff or household, set up monitoring and an emergency plan and begin collecting data. We measure performance for at least 12 months, including during any outage.
8. Independent analysis and reporting. An outside evaluator with no financial relationship to the manufacturer analyzes the results against the plan. We publish a report in plain language, available to the host, the community, utilities and the public, describing what we found, including limitations and any poor results.
9. Handoff. At the end of the monitoring period, we transfer the equipment to the host under the host agreement, confirm ongoing maintenance and make the results available to anyone considering a similar project.

What the grant will pay for. Part of one Project Engineer's salary, solar, battery storage and heat pump equipment for demonstration sites, purchased from vendors, and licensed installation and independent measurement and verification paid to contractors. The rest of the budget comes from government energy contracts and utility program funds, other grants and corporate and foundation partners.

Safety first. Battery storage in this plan is installed only at community hubs, outdoors or in an enclosure approved by the local authority having jurisdiction, with systems listed to recognized safety standards, a written emergency response plan shared with the local fire department, remote monitoring and alarms and clear shut-off labels. We do not install batteries inside homes in Year 1. All electrical work is done by licensed electricians, and no system is energized before inspection and utility approval.

Why this approach is strong. A community gets a technology tested for its own conditions, installed by licensed professionals, measured against a plan made in advance and reported honestly, at no cost to the host. Students get paid, supervised field experience, and the next community gets real data. We do not promise that this solves every problem, but independent evidence from real communities is far more likely to produce good decisions than a sales brochure.

Market Analysis

Who benefits: community organizations, income-qualified households, small local governments and small utilities in our Ohio service area, and the students and technicians who want to enter the clean energy workforce.

Our primary group is community organizations that serve people in an emergency and the low-income households they serve. This includes food pantries, senior centers, clinics, community centers and small shelters that need backup power and lower energy costs, and income-qualified households, including older adults, renters and families with children, who spend a large share of their income on energy. We will target households at or below 80 percent of area median income as our first priority, and we will make special efforts to reach rural communities and neighborhoods that have not been reached by other programs.

We will not serve a host that cannot meet our safety requirements, and we will tell them clearly what they would need to change. We will not install a system on a roof or in a building that is not structurally or electrically ready. We refer households with legal, landlord, tax or utility billing questions to legal aid, community action agencies and the state's consumer advocate.

Local data. We will use the most recent state, utility and federal energy data, including energy burden and outage data, in our final application and will not overstate the need. Our experience shows demand: our founder's pilot installed five systems with no staff and was asked by more than twenty organizations to do more. We plan for about 15 field projects in Year 1 and about 25 in Year 2, with about 6 technologies tested on the bench and about 8 paid student technician interns in Year 1.

Our secondary groups are municipal utilities and electric cooperatives, who gain independent field data; local governments and emergency managers, who gain resilience at the sites that matter most; community colleges and technical schools, whose students gain paid experience; contractors and manufacturers, who gain a trusted place to learn how their products perform; and funders, who gain evidence about what works.

We do not guarantee a project to every organization or household, and when our funding or capacity is limited we prioritize by need, safety readiness and the value of what we can learn. We do not accept payment for referrals.

Competitive Landscape

Other ways communities in our area currently evaluate and adopt clean energy technology, and what makes us different.

- Equipment vendors and installers. They sell and install systems, and some offer analyses of savings. They have a financial interest in the sale and do not publish performance data. We refer hosts to licensed contractors for installation, we are not paid by any vendor and we publish what we find.
- Electric utilities. Utilities run pilots and incentive programs and hold valuable data, but pilots often serve their own planning needs, data may not be public and their customers may not be able to afford a project. We partner with utilities and welcome their data and their support.
- Universities and national laboratories. They do rigorous research, usually at laboratory scale or with limited community involvement and long timelines. We partner with them and bring the community sites, the field conditions and the speed that small communities need.
- Community action agencies and weatherization programs. They improve the efficiency of low-income homes and are trusted in their communities. They typically do not test emerging technologies or measure results in detail. We partner with them and add measurement and new technology.
- State energy offices and local governments. They fund and coordinate energy programs and often lack the staff to test technologies. We are designed to be a local, independent partner.
- Other innovation labs and accelerators. Some support companies developing products. Few focus on community hosts, independent evaluation and open data. We refer technology developers to them when they are a better fit.
- Doing nothing or relying on the vendor's claims. This is the common alternative, and it leaves communities with higher costs and less resilience. We aim to show that independent, open evidence leads to better decisions.

What makes us different.
- We are independent. We accept no payment from a manufacturer to test its product, and we publish results regardless of direction.
- We work in real communities, with the hosts who need resilience and the households who face high energy costs.
- Licensed professionals design, install and inspect every project, and we plan emergency response with the local fire department.
- We measure against a plan set in advance and use an outside evaluator.
- We train and pay students as technician interns, with supervision and safety training.
- Honest results. We measure and share what we find, including when a system underperforms or a technology fails.

What we do not claim. We are new as a standalone organization, though our founder has five years of pilot experience. National laboratories, universities and larger clean energy nonprofits have far more experience and resources. We plan to learn from them and share results openly.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach the hosts, households, partners and supporters we need once the project is funded.

Host organizations. We will reach community organizations that serve people in an emergency through the networks they already use: food bank associations, senior service agencies, community health centers, county emergency managers, faith communities, community foundations and local governments. We will hold an open call for hosts each year, publish the selection criteria in plain language and select hosts by need, safety readiness and what we can learn. Materials will be in plain language and in Spanish and any other language our community partners tell us is needed.

Households. We will reach income-qualified households through a community action agency partner, which already knows which households qualify and which need help most. We will never ask a household to pay or to sign a long-term contract, and we will explain in writing what we install, what we measure and what we do with the data.

Utilities and local governments. We will work with municipal utilities, electric cooperatives, the investor-owned utility that serves our region and local governments to coordinate interconnection, share results and identify sites where a demonstration helps a planning question. We will never accept a utility's request to hide a result.

Universities and community colleges. We will partner with a university research group for technical review and a community college and technical school for paid student technician interns, in exchange for access to real field projects for teaching.

Manufacturers and contractors. We will invite manufacturers and licensed contractors to propose technologies and to supply equipment, under a written agreement that gives them no control over the design, analysis or publication of results. We will not accept payment from a manufacturer to test its product, and any discount on equipment will be disclosed in the report.

Funders. We will report results to funders twice a year and in a short annual report, in totals and never with a household's name. We will invite funders to visit a project, with the host's permission.

Corporate and community donors. We will invite local businesses, banks, civic clubs, faith communities and foundations to sponsor a hub, an intern or a household project. Gifts are tracked separately and acknowledged with thanks.

How we talk about participants. We describe hosts and households as partners and as experts in their own needs, not as beneficiaries. We do not use stories or photographs without clear, written, informed permission, and we never publish a household's energy data in a way that could identify the household.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 to 2: Attorney review of host agreements, utility interconnection requirements, data-sharing and intellectual property policies and insurance, sign the lease, hire the Program Director, the Project Engineer, the Measurement and Verification Analyst and the Community and Workforce Partnerships Coordinator, set up the lab and the secure data system.
- Month 3: Staff safety training, including electrical safety, battery safety, fall protection and emergency response, and project planning. Open the lab. Issue the open call for hosts and begin site reviews.
- Months 4 to 8: Finalize designs and measurement plans, complete permits and utility approvals, install the first resilience hubs and home projects through licensed contractors, commission systems and begin monitoring. Start the first cohort of paid student technician interns. Begin bench tests of the first technologies.
- Months 9 to 12: Assess early results, publish the first public reports, prepare the Year 1 report and plan for Year 2. Open the second call for hosts and recruit the second intern cohort.

Space. A leased lab and office space in a former industrial building, with a bench testing area, a fire-rated battery test enclosure, a training room and a secure equipment storage room. Rent and utilities are about $30,000 a year in Year 1. Lab build-out, including dedicated circuits, ventilation and a fire-rated battery test area, is a one-time cost of $6,000, with a deposit and first month of rent of $5,000.

Equipment. We buy about $18,000 of test and safety equipment once at the start: power quality analyzers, a thermal imaging camera, data loggers and field test instruments ($9,000), arc-rated protective gear, a battery safety cabinet and fire extinguishing equipment ($5,000) and field laptops and tablets for monitoring and reporting ($4,000). After Year 1, we set aside about $4,000 to $5,000 a year to replace and add equipment. An opening stock of spare parts, cabling, sensors, mounting hardware and test components is a one-time cost of $8,000.

Staffing. In Year 1: an Executive Director, a Clean Energy Program Director who is a licensed Professional Engineer, one Project Engineer, one Measurement and Verification Analyst, a Community and Workforce Partnerships Coordinator and a part-time Program Coordinator. A second Project Engineer joins in Year 3, a second Analyst in Year 4 and a third Project Engineer and a second Partnerships Coordinator in Year 5.

Demonstration equipment. Demonstration equipment costs about $95,000 in Year 1: about $24,000 of our equipment budget for each of 3 community resilience hubs, with solar panels of roughly 10 kilowatts and battery storage of roughly 20 kilowatt-hours at each, and about $1,900 for each of about 12 homes, with a heat pump water heater and smart controls. Host organizations, utility programs and equipment suppliers cover the rest of each project. We buy equipment only from vendors and pay vendors directly. No cash is ever given to a host or a household.

Installation and standards. All electrical, solar and storage work is performed by licensed, insured contractors, preferably certified by a recognized industry body, and follows the codes adopted in Ohio and the requirements of the local authority having jurisdiction. Storage systems are listed to recognized safety standards, such as UL 9540, and are installed to the National Fire Protection Association's requirements for stationary energy storage and the National Electrical Code. A permit, an inspection and a utility interconnection agreement are required for each project, and no system is energized until all three are complete. Licensed installation and independent measurement and verification cost about $35,000 in Year 1, about $25,000 for installation labor and about $10,000 for the independent evaluator. Permits, interconnection fees and inspections cost about $8,000, or about $530 for each project.

Battery safety. Batteries are installed only at community hubs, outdoors or in an enclosure approved by the authority having jurisdiction, with a written emergency response plan shared with and reviewed by the local fire department, remote monitoring and alarms, clear shut-off labels and a maintenance schedule. We do not install batteries inside homes in Year 1. Any technology that could create a fire or shock risk is tested first on the bench in our fire-rated area, by trained staff wearing protective gear.

Measurement and verification. For each project, a measurement plan is written and registered before installation, using accepted measurement and verification methods, such as the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol. We measure for at least 12 months and, for hubs, test the backup function under a planned outage. An independent evaluator with no financial relationship to any manufacturer analyzes the results, and we publish them in plain language, including limitations and any poor result. Monitoring equipment and the secure data platform cost about $10,000 a year in Year 1.

Homes and households. We work through a community action agency that confirms income eligibility. Participation is voluntary and free, and no household is asked to pay or sign a long-term contract. For renters, we obtain the landlord's written permission. We explain in writing what we install, what we measure and what happens to the equipment at the end. Household energy data is collected only with written consent, is used only for the project, is reported in aggregate and is never shared with a landlord, a utility or a collector in a way that identifies the household.

Student technician interns. We employ paid student technician interns from community colleges and technical schools, about 100 hours each in Year 1, at a cost of about $12,000. Interns are paid through payroll, complete electrical safety and general construction safety training before their first day, work only under the direct supervision of a licensed professional, never work alone and never work on energized equipment or batteries. We do not promise any intern a job, and we introduce interns to local employers and apprenticeship programs.

Privacy and data. Participant information is kept in a secure, password-protected system and shared only with written permission or as required by law. Our public dashboards show system data, not household identities.

Crisis and safety. If anyone is in immediate danger, staff call 911. Any person in distress is connected right away to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Staff follow a written safety plan for every site visit.

Insurance and records. We carry general liability, property, professional liability and non-owned auto liability insurance, and workers' compensation once we hire, and we require every contractor to carry its own insurance and name us on the policy. Insurance is about $16,000 a year in Year 1. Grant money is tracked separately so we can show each funder how their money was spent, and an outside accountant reviews our books every year.

Management & Organization

The people who will carry out the project.

Daniel Okafor, Executive Director. A licensed Professional Engineer and former utility distribution engineer who managed a community solar-plus-storage pilot with a university partner for five years, installing five systems and publishing the data. She leads fundraising, partnerships, finance and hiring, reports to the board and is the main contact for funders. (Replace this paragraph with your own director's background.)

Clean Energy Program Director (full time, hired in Months 1 to 2). A licensed Professional Engineer who runs the program day to day, reviews every design and safety plan, manages the lab and supervises the engineers, the analyst and the contractors on each project.

Project Engineers (one in Years 1 and 2, two in Years 3 and 4, three in Year 5). Assess sites, design projects with contractors, manage permits, utility approvals and commissioning and run bench tests.

Measurement and Verification Analyst (one in Years 1 to 3, two from Year 4). Writes measurement plans, manages monitoring equipment and data, prepares reports and works with the independent evaluator.

Community and Workforce Partnerships Coordinator (one in Years 1 to 4, two from Year 5). Recruits host organizations and households through community partners, manages the intern program and coordinates with schools, colleges and employers.

Program Coordinator (part-time). Keeps records, manages the data system and prepares reports.

Board of directors. Seven volunteers who meet every quarter: a licensed Professional Engineer, a community college energy technology instructor, a community action agency director, a local government sustainability officer, a representative of a hosting community organization, an attorney and a certified public accountant. The board approves the budget and policies, reviews safety incidents and results each quarter and does not receive pay.

Community advisory group. Host organizations, households and community partners meet quarterly and tell us what is working and what is not. Their advice shapes our site selection, communication and outreach.

Technical advisors. A university research partner and a licensed fire protection engineer review our designs and safety plans twice a year and are available for questions. They are advisors and do not supervise installation.

Outside professionals. An attorney reviews our host agreements, data policies and interconnection documents. An independent evaluator analyzes project results. An outside accountant reviews our books every year.

Staff screening. Every staff member and intern passes a criminal background check. Staff are trained in electrical safety, battery safety, fall protection, emergency response and our data privacy policy before they enter a site or handle any equipment.

Staff pay in this plan includes payroll taxes and benefits. Salaries are Executive Director $66,000, Program Director $64,000, Project Engineer $62,000, Measurement and Verification Analyst $56,000, Community and Workforce Partnerships Coordinator $46,000 and part-time Program Coordinator $26,000. Replace them with the pay you can offer where you live.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals for each year and how we will measure them.

- Year 1: Open in about Month 3, complete about 15 field projects (3 community resilience hubs and about 12 homes), bench-test about 6 technologies, employ about 8 paid student technician interns, publish about 2 public reports and see every system pass inspection and utility approval before it is switched on. A balanced budget of about $582,000, with a small surplus of about $15,400. 6 paid staff.
- Year 2: Complete about 25 field projects (5 hubs and about 20 homes), bench-test about 8 technologies, employ about 12 interns and publish about 3 reports. Apply for government energy contracts and utility program funds. A balanced budget of about $598,500, with a small surplus of about $14,900. 6 paid staff.
- Year 3: Add a second Project Engineer, complete about 37 field projects (7 hubs and about 30 homes), bench-test about 10 technologies, employ about 16 interns and publish about 4 reports. Contracts cover more of our budget. A balanced budget of about $679,500, with a small surplus of about $15,600. 7 paid staff.
- Year 4: Add a second Analyst, complete about 49 field projects (9 hubs and about 40 homes), bench-test about 12 technologies, employ about 20 interns and publish about 5 reports. A balanced budget of about $755,500, with a small surplus of about $16,200. 8 paid staff.
- Year 5: Add a third Project Engineer and a second Partnerships Coordinator, complete about 67 field projects (12 hubs and about 55 homes), bench-test about 14 technologies, employ about 26 interns and publish about 6 reports, with government energy contracts and utility program funds covering about 32% of our budget. A balanced budget of about $886,000, with a small surplus of about $17,800. 10 paid staff.

What we measure:
- Field projects completed, by type, host and community.
- Systems that passed inspection and utility approval before being switched on, and any safety incident, reported in totals.
- Energy produced, used and saved, compared with the measurement plan written before installation.
- Backup power performance during planned and real outages, including hours of critical service kept running.
- Household-reported comfort, ease of use and problems, collected anonymously.
- Equipment problems, repairs and costs, and technologies that did not perform.
- Technologies bench-tested, and what we found.
- Public reports published and how many were downloaded or used by other communities.
- Interns employed, hours worked, certifications earned and placements, reported in totals.
- Cost per project and per kilowatt-hour of backup capacity.
- Whether hosts and households felt respected and informed, collected anonymously.

How we review results. The Program Director and engineers review active projects, safety checks and monitoring data every week, and the whole team reviews outcomes monthly. Each report is reviewed by the board before publication to confirm it was produced independently of any manufacturer. Each semester, staff, the community advisory group and our partners review results together and we change what is not working, including which technologies we test and which sites we use. Twice a year the board reviews results and we share them with funders and government partners as totals. Every number in this plan is a goal, and we will report what really happens, including systems that underperform and technologies that fail.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $120,000 from the Clean Energy Innovation Fund for one Project Engineer, solar, battery storage and heat pump equipment for demonstration sites, purchased from vendors, and licensed installation and independent measurement and verification paid to contractors, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Project Engineer salary, $45,000 (other funds add $17,000).
- Equipment: Solar, battery storage and heat pump equipment for demonstration sites (purchased from vendors and installed by licensed contractors, never as cash to a host or household), $50,000 (other funds add $45,000).
- Contractual: Licensed installation and independent measurement and verification (paid to contractors), $25,000 (other funds add $10,000).

Other money in the program. Government energy contracts and utility program funds, other grants and corporate and foundation partners pay the other $72,000 of those lines, plus the Executive Director's salary ($66,000), the Program Director ($64,000), the Measurement and Verification Analyst ($56,000), the Community and Workforce Partnerships Coordinator ($46,000), the part-time Program Coordinator ($26,000), lab and office rent and utilities ($30,000), monitoring equipment and the secure data platform ($10,000), permits, interconnection fees and inspections ($8,000), paid student technician internships ($12,000), outreach, public reporting and community partnerships ($10,000), insurance ($16,000), staff training ($6,000), evaluation and reporting ($6,000) and administration and accounting ($15,000).

Year 1 budget: about $582,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $15,400 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: grants $427,000 (this request plus other grants we are applying for), government energy contracts and utility program funds $90,000 and corporate partners, foundations and donations $65,000. Year 1 costs: Executive Director $66,000; Clean Energy Program Director $64,000; Project Engineer $62,000; Measurement and Verification Analyst $56,000; Community and Workforce Partnerships Coordinator $46,000; Program Coordinator $26,000; demonstration project equipment about $95,000; licensed installation and independent measurement and verification about $35,000; lab and office rent and utilities about $30,000; monitoring equipment and secure data platform about $10,000; permits, interconnection fees and inspections about $8,000; paid student technician internships about $12,000; outreach, public reporting and community partnerships about $10,000; insurance about $16,000; staff training and certifications about $6,000; evaluation and reporting about $6,000; administration and accounting about $15,000; and about $7,200 a year for the wear on equipment.

How we planned projects. Demonstration equipment costs about $95,000 in Year 1 for about 15 field projects: about $24,000 for each of 3 resilience hubs and about $1,900 for each of about 12 homes. Host organizations, utility programs, equipment suppliers and, where confirmed in writing, available incentives cover the rest of each project. We do not count on any incentive until we have it in writing, because federal, state and utility incentives change often. The cost per project falls as our engineers and contractors repeat designs and as we learn which technologies fit which sites.

About government contracts. U.S. Department of Energy funding opportunities, state energy office programs, utility innovation and demonstration programs and local government resilience and energy programs fund clean energy demonstration, measurement and workforce training. These are competitive, awarded for set periods, subject to appropriations and have strict rules about eligibility, safety, data collection and reporting. We plan to apply once we have a track record. The amounts in this plan are our planning estimates, not promises, and agencies and utilities can change their budgets, rules and awards.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $56,500 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $18,000 for equipment, $6,000 for leasehold improvements, $5,000 for deposits, $8,000 for opening supplies and inventory, $1,500 for licenses and permits, $10,000 for legal and professional help, $3,000 for a website, public data dashboard and brochures, $5,000 for background checks, safety training and first insurance.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($56,500), the cash we need to cover the wait for the first payments (about $21,700) and a cash cushion of about $140,800, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. That comes to $219,000. We start with $25,000 of our own savings and $200,000 in startup support from an energy foundation, an equipment supplier gift and our board, $225,000 in all, which covers that amount.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $582,000 in Year 1 to about $886,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $427,000, $390,500, $409,500, $415,500, $464,000 in Years 1 to 5. Government energy contracts and utility program funds grow from $90,000 to $280,000, and corporate and foundation partners grow from $65,000 to $142,000. We add a second Project Engineer in Year 3, a second Analyst in Year 4 and a third Project Engineer and a second Partnerships Coordinator in Year 5. Grants fall from about 73% of our income in Year 1 to about 52% in Year 5.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $185,300, at the end of Year 1. Government and grant payments often arrive after we bill or after we submit documents, so we plan for about $40,740 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

After the grant. Our plan is to grow government energy contracts and utility program funds as agencies see our results, to invite businesses, banks and civic groups to sponsor hubs, interns and household projects and to grow individual donors. Because a community with independent evidence can make better energy decisions, keep essential services running in an outage and lower energy costs, success strengthens our case for public funding.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- A technology underperforms or fails. We measure against a plan made in advance, publish what we find and treat a poor result as useful knowledge.
- A safety problem or fire risk. We use licensed contractors, listed equipment, inspections, utility approval, emergency plans shared with the fire department, remote monitoring and bench testing first. We stop any project that cannot be made safe.
- Incentives or rules change. We do not count on an incentive until it is confirmed in writing, and we plan each project so it still works if an incentive goes away.
- Equipment prices or supply change. We buy from more than one vendor, stage purchases and adjust the number of projects.
- A host or household withdraws. We keep a waiting list and prioritize the next host by need and readiness.
- Government contracts are delayed or not awarded. We plan with a cash cushion, stage hiring so costs follow funding and apply to other funders.
- A grant ends. We keep savings, grow contracts and donors and keep our cost per project low.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one community hub and a handful of home projects with a licensed contractor and a university partner in the first year, measured carefully and published. Strong, honest results from a small program make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and Program Director, including any Professional Engineer license.
- Letters of support from a food bank or other host organization, a community action agency, a community college, a utility and an equipment supplier.
- Your host agreement template, including ownership, data, monitoring, maintenance and insurance terms.
- Your site safety plan, battery safety plan and emergency response plan.
- Your contractor requirements, including license, insurance and certification.
- Your utility interconnection plan and permit checklist.
- Your measurement and verification plan template and your independent evaluator agreement.
- Your data privacy policy and your intern safety and supervision policy.
- Your plan for publishing results, including how you will report poor results.
- Results from your founder's prior pilot, shown as totals.
- Proof of general liability, property and professional liability insurance, or a quote.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $427,000 in Year 1, then $390,500, $409,500, $415,500, $464,000.
- Government Energy Contracts and Utility Program Funds: $90,000 in Year 1, growing to $280,000.
- Corporate Partners, Foundations and Donations: $65,000 in Year 1, growing to $142,000.
- Projects and interns: about 15 field projects, 6 bench-tested technologies, 8 interns and 2 public reports in Year 1, then 25, 37, 49, 67 field projects, 8, 10, 12, 14 technologies, 12, 16, 20, 26 interns and 3, 4, 5, 6 reports in Years 2 to 5.
- Pay: Executive Director $66,000, Program Director $64,000, Project Engineer $62,000 (one in Years 1 and 2, two in Years 3 and 4, three in Year 5), Measurement and Verification Analyst $56,000 (one in Years 1 to 3, two from Year 4), Community and Workforce Partnerships Coordinator $46,000 (one in Years 1 to 4, two from Year 5), Program Coordinator (part-time) $26,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: Demonstration Project Equipment (Paid to Vendors) $95,000, Licensed Installation and Independent Measurement and Verification (Paid to Contractors) $35,000, Office, Lab Rent and Utilities $30,000, Monitoring Equipment and Secure Data Platform $10,000, Permits, Interconnection Fees and Inspections $8,000, Paid Student Technician Internships (Paid Through Payroll) $12,000, Outreach, Public Reporting and Community Partnerships $10,000, Insurance $16,000, Staff Training and Certifications $6,000, Evaluation and Reporting $6,000, Administration and Accounting $15,000. Growing between 4% and 8% a year.
- Equipment: $18,000 at the start, then $4,000 to $5,000 a year.
- Startup costs: $56,500, paid once from $225,000 in startup money.
- About 7% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs