Electric cooperatives are among the 68 organizations chosen to host clean energy fellows under the latest round of a U.S. Department of Energy program.
The fellows will support co-op efforts to evaluate or deploy battery storage, distributed energy resources, microgrids and other clean energy innovations.
“These fellowships really are a win-win—by providing cooperatives with additional staff to support innovative projects underway while also developing the workforce of the future and highlighting the benefits of being a part of the cooperative family,” said NRECA Regulatory Affairs Director Stephanie Crawford.
DOE’s Clean Energy Innovator Fellowship (CEIF) program recruits recent college graduates and energy professionals to spend up to two years backing host organizations’ projects. The 2024 fellowship class, which the DOE announced Aug. 21, is the largest to date.
As part of that round, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. in Colorado will host a fellow to analyze battery storage as a distributed energy resource for disadvantaged rural communities. The fellowship will be Tri-State’s third under the CEIF.
“Our fellows have been instrumental in helping create innovative energy solutions for our members, bringing a fresh perspective and energy that is making a real difference for our members,” Tri-State Chief Energy Innovations Officer Reg Rudolph said. “Our fellows offer refined skill sets for using data and analytics for more informed and strategic decisions and are purpose-driven, which resonates with our cooperative business model and vision of the future.”
Also on Aug. 21, the DOE said North Carolina Electric Membership Corp. will host a new fellow to deploy a proof-of-concept microgrid.
The decision gives the state’s co-ops “another way to deliver on a commitment to powering a brighter future for our 2.5 million members and rural communities,” said Lee Ragsdale, senior vice president of energy delivery for NCEMC.
The fellow “will help accelerate the deployment of microgrids across the state by working with our team to implement a simplified, templated design for these innovative systems, ultimately enhancing grid resilience in communities throughout North Carolina,” Ragsdale added.
Other co-ops receiving new fellows include Farmers Electric Cooperative in Greenville, Texas, to expand its DER program; Rappahannock Electric Cooperative in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to grow its commercial/industrial clean energy DER integration programs for grid resilience and optimization; and Ahoskie, North Carolina-based Roanoke Cooperative to support efforts to operationalize its data analytics plan.
“Having a DOE fellow means Farmers has access to additional insights and valuable new work on projects as we build our distributed energy programs,” said Samantha Crouch, Farmers’ general counsel and senior director of power supply and energy services. “We’re also excited about the opportunity to encourage the professional growth and education of a future energy industry professional.”
Molly Christian is a staff writer for NRECA.