Ava Community Investment
Grants
JP Ross | December 3, 2025
Why does Ava fund grants? – Purpose and Rationale
➔ Further organization and programmatic objectives and priorities by leveraging and supporting the work of other organizations and community groups
◆ These programmatic objectives and priorities are broken into Grant Strategic Priorities and Technical Focus Areas (Future Roadmap Priorities may adjust these) ➔ Foster trust, build strategic partnerships
◆ Seek trusted intermediaries that can accelerate customer participation and awareness of Ava and our programmatic priorities
➔ Key Factors in Grantmaking
◆ JPA delegated authority under Gov. Code §§ 6500–6539. ● must further the joint purpose stated in the JPA agreement — not the independent interests of a single member or a private party
◆ Under Article XVI, Section 6 of the California Constitution, a JPA—like any public agency—may not make a gift of public funds.
● must serve a clear and legitimate public purpose related to the joint powers authority agreement and the purposes for which it was formed.
◆ Ava does not issue grants for philanthropic purposes as donations to for-profit or non-profit entities ➔ 2019: Community Innovation Grants, six grants of $40,000 for CBOs across multiple programmatic objectives including education, workforce developments and clean energy pilots ➔ 2020-2022; shifted focus of grants to affordability program enrollment & community services support during COVID
◆ $2.2M for COVID support services that addressed food security, protective equipment, and other non-energy community support, membership Cities were given grants to deliver assistance through existing City programs
◆ $10,000 - $30,000 grants to local CBOs to support enrollment in bill assistance programs ➔ 2023-2027 - returned to Community Investment Grants that further LD program objectives based on feedback on 2019 Community Innovation Grants from grantees ◆ Multi-year grants of ~$300k to provide sufficient funds for CBO capacity and longer duration projects
◆ Outcome driven; aligned to objectives and priorities
➔ 2019-2025: Hyperlocal sponsorships capped at $2,500 each to support local organizations to raise awareness and build community relationships
◆ 150 sponsorships totaling $375k
How we’ve structured grants – Key Components and Design Existing Community Investment Grants
Organization Amount Term Description
Copper
$300,000
2 years
Community awareness raising at farmers markets and other cooking inspired events about the benefits of induction cooking. Parties agreed after the first year that Copper would not complete the second year of the grant Rising Sun Center for Opportunity
3 years
Ending
2027
Empowering young individuals through education and exposure to employment opportunities and hands-on training in clean energy technologies. This initiative seeks to bridge the gap between education and employment, fostering a skilled workforce for the ongoing energy transition.
This program is specifically designed to reach youth (ages 15–24) including recent high school graduates, college students, and young professionals.
AGAPE
Green the Church
Empowering local communities to develop and manage EV charging infrastructure to promote sustainability and electric mobility.
Interfaith Power and Light
Emerald Cities Collaborative
1.5 years
Ending
2026
ECC, along with with their sub LCEA, are engaging local community members, resilience hub experts, and community-based organizations by conducting outreach, organizing listening sessions, and hosting workshops to identify and understand the needs and opportunities for community-driven resilience hubs within Ava’s service area.
Technical Focus + Strategic Funding Priorities
Community
Empowerment
Education
&
Experiential
Learning
Research
& Innovation
Energy Efficiency
Building Electrification
Transportation Electrification
Resilience
Grant Strategic Priorities
Workforce
Development
Year Amount to be paid Each 6.1
Year
# of Concurrent
Grants
(@3 new/year)
2024 $150,000 1
2025 $550,000 5
2026 $850,000 8
2027 $1,000,000 10
2028 $900,000 9
2029 $900,000 9
2030 $900,000 9
2031 $900,000 9
2032 $600,000 6
2033 $ 300,000 3
Totals $ 7,050,000 24
Total Unique Grants
Annual Grants with
Remaining Grant Budget
● Assumes Ava issues three grants per
year and all future grants are $300,000
over 3 years
● Staff will manage public engagement
process to identify annual grant
opportunities
● All grants go through a competitive
solicitation process with grant specific
evaluation criteria
● All grants go to the board for
authorization prior to execution
7 Funding Mechanism & Implementation
Grantmaking Mechanism How It’s Applied at Ava
Multi-Year Structure ➔ Standard 3-Year Term: To enable deeper community investment and capacity building
Funding Approach
➔ Milestone-Based: For infrastructure/hardware projects ➔ Scheduled: For education, research, and outreach — typically $100K annually, disbursed in May
Strategic Lens ➔ Place-Based: Focus on Ava’s service area and priority geographies ➔ Issue-Based: 4 Focus Areas (EE, BE, ET, Resiliency)
Decision-Making Style ➔ Trust-Based: Grounded in collaboration, flexibility, and listening Funder-Grantee Relationship ➔ Partner-Centered: Ava is a facilitator and problem solver, not just a funder Implementation Flexibility ➔ Tailored Terms: Milestones or schedules defined collaboratively; not one-size-fits-all Internal Oversight ➔ Data: Salesforce used to track deliverables, disbursement type, and timeline status
Next Steps
Q1 2026: January-March: Grant Ideation
➔ Ava Staff Subject Matter Experts provide list of grant ideas ➔ CAC and City Munipals Workshops to solicit grant ideas Q2 2026: April-June: Develop/Issue Grant RFPS
➔ Identify top grant opportunities from stakeholder outreach ➔ Review proposed grant ideas with CAC and Board of Directors ➔ Develop and issue Grant Solicitations
Q3 2026: July-September
➔ Grant submissions due
➔ Ava staff subject matter experts evaluate grant proposals ➔ Identify grantees for recommendation to Board
Q4 2026: October-December
➔ Board Approval
➔ Execute Grant Agreements
➔ Grant project start/ kick-off
APPENDIX
Grants & Local Sponsorships: Total Funding
Description Budget Allocation
Grants & Sponsorships Total$11,675,000
Total amount Awarded ($4,615,000)
Total amount Remaining $7,060,000
Total 2019-2025 Budget Allocation* $101,530,000
Grants % of Total LD Budget ~11.5%
* Note: Ava’s Local Development Budget is accounted for as a separate fund. This allows for budget to allocated to Local Development efforts and maintained for future use. Any changes to the local development budget are brought forth to the board for action. *$1,575,000 of Grants and Local Sponsorships funding was allocated from outside of the historical Local Development budget
Examples of other CCA Grants (not exhaustive)
*CPA 2024 Impact Report, page 12
Community Benefit Grants Impact Grants Community Outreach Grants Calpine commits 3% of contract total to
fund grants in partnership with CCA*
Clean Power Alliance
● Started in 2021
● 23/24 issued $325k in 14 grants
for 1 year
● Focused on education, equity,
workforce development, advance
clean energy
SD Community Power
● Also partnered with SD
Foundation
● Nearly $2.5M since 2023
● Grants of $25k-100k for 2 years
● Focused on education, workforce,
health, resilience
Sonoma Clean Power
● Launching in Spring 2026
● $75k for grants of $5-$20k
● Focus on education, equity,
workforce development, research
& planning
Peninsula Clean Energy
(soon to be WestLight)
● Started in 2018 with grants of
$10k
● In 2026, grants will be $50k for 1
year
● 2025 issued $500k to 16 CBOs
● Focus on education and outreach
Community Grant Program and Resilience Grants
Silicon Valley Clean Energy
● Community Grant Program invested >$5 million to provide 13 member agencies with grant funds to identify, prioritize, and implement resilient energy strategies such as cool pavements, solar + storage, off-grid EV charging ● 2025 - $3M for 6 projects + $400k for those projects to offer engagement programming.
○ Funding for battery energy storage, solar, and EV charging projects ○ Grants to CBOs and municipal buildings (community centers, schools)