Sustainability - Lewis & Clark

Renewable Energy Fee Fund and Committee

As the costs associated with purchasing renewable energy certificates (REC) have come down over the years, surplus funds from the Renewable Energy Fee have become available to students via the Renewable Energy Fee Fund. A Renewable Energy Fee Fund Committee (REFF) is charged with overseeing the status of the surplus fund and approves any expenditure including the awarding of grants as described below.

Reasons for a Renewable Energy Fee Surplus

The surplus resulted from several factors including 1) establishing a competitive bid process among renewable energy certificate providers 2) lower than projected prices in the REC market, and 3) high enrollment and participation by CAS students in the program—particularly in 2011-2012 and 4) reductions in electricity use.  There is no guarantee that there will continue to be a surplus in future academic years; however the Renewable Energy Fee committee (as governed by the ASLC Senate Resolution FA13 SR002) and sustainability managers must maintain an 8% reserve, in order to manage any fluctuations or unanticipated increases in the REC costs.

Renewable Energy Fee Committee

The Renewable Energy Fee Committee is comprised of two ASB representatives, two at-large student members, and a paid student position (Renewable Energy Intern).

Interested in serving on the Committee? Please submit this interest form.

NOTE: Committee members may not apply for funding during their term of service. 

General Application Guidelines

• Applicants may apply for funding once per year, for a total of three times during their time as students at Lewis & Clark.
• Applicants requesting funding for an internship will be paid minimum wage. This will vary based on the state of employment, but will not be less than the Oregon minimum wage.
• Applicants in their senior year are encouraged to apply prior to their last semester to ensure their educational giveback is completed prior to graduation.
• Applicants must contact the Renewable Energy Fee Fund Intern at least 2 weeks before the submission of their application.
• Applicants must submit a short letter of interest to the committee two weeks before the final submission deadline if:
  •  They are requesting $5000 or more.
  • They are collaborating with organizations outside of Lewis and Clark as a significant component of the project.
  • This letter of interest should briefly describe the project, name all the participants/collaborators and describe their level of engagement with the project. It should also roughly outline the project’s expected costs.
• Grant proposals may not exceed five pages in length (excluding the budget forms).
• Applications must be submitted electronically.
• Applicants may be asked to make a presentation to the Committee.

Application Process

1. Contact the Renewable Energy Intern and discuss your preliminary ideas.
2. Work on your first application draft (fill out the two forms provided below).
3. Meet with Renewable Energy Intern and revise the application.
4. Submit your application by one of the two dates listed below.

The application has two parts. The first is the Renewable Energy Fee Fund Written Application and the second is the Renewable Energy Fee Fund Application Budget and Timeline Form Application. Both of these documents must be completed and shared with the Renewable Energy Fee Fund intern, Francisco Perozo at fperozo@lclark.edu

If you have questions about the application process, Francisco is holding Office Hours every  Friday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. You can access these by joining through this Zoom link. 

The Renewable Energy Fee Fund Committee will assess each application according to the application assessment rubric.  However, the primary driver of the application will be the presence or absence of a renewable energy component (please see the definition below). Additionally, the degree to which the project supports renewable energy must be described in detail. The extent of the relationship will impact the amount of funding the applicant is eligible for. The remaining scores will assess the viability and significance of the project/initiative as a whole.

Renewable energy includes resources that rely on fuel sources that restore themselves over short periods of time and do not diminish. Such fuel sources include the sun, wind, moving water, organic plant and waste material (eligible biomass), and the earth’s heat (geothermal).

Green power is a subset of renewable energy and represents those renewable energy resources and technologies that provide the highest environmental benefit. EPA defines green power as electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources.

- US Environmental Protection Agency, Green Power Markets 

Timeline

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis with a final deadline by the end of the Spring semester. Applications requesting funds needed before a specific date need to submit their applications six weeks before funds are absolutely needed. 

The Committee will review the applications and respond within two weeks. This Committee may request revisions. If so, the Committee will review the revised application and respond within two weeks. Application scores and Committee decisions will be made available to the applicants and the public, as requested.

2022-2023 Academic Year

On a rolling basis

Summer Projects

Application Deadline: April 23rd, 2023