Bezos Earth Fund commits grant to Tribal Solar Accelerator

GRID Alternatives announced it received a $12 million multi-year grant from the Bezos Earth Fund to grow GRID’s Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund, a tribal-led program that assists communities in developing renewable energy projects and expanding solar job opportunities.

The Bezos Earth Fund is a Jeff Bezos-led initiative that announced a $10 billion commitment to fund scientists, activists, NGOs, and other actors to drive climate and environmental solutions. GRID’s grant was one of 44 awarded by the Bezos Earth Fund today, with total investment summing $443 million.

According to GRID, the grant will allow the Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund to scale up its impact in reaching indigenous communities. The program will provide training for careers in solar and clean energy and enable exploration of emerging technologies like clean mobility and energy storage.

While GRID has partnered with more than 40 tribes since 2010, the Tribal Accelerator fund was officially launched in 2018, with a $5 million commitment from Wells Fargo.

“There is a long history of extractive energy exploitation in Indigenous communities and the Tribal Accelerator Fund was created to support tribes in developing and owning renewable energy infrastructure that will lead to their respective energy resilience and energy sovereignty goals,” said Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund Director, Tanski Clairmont.

In total, the Bezos Earth Fund granted $38 million to organizations supporting Native communities.

A 2018 National Renewable Energy Laboratory study found that Native American tribes could install 61 gigawatts of utility-scale solar, and sell the resulting electricity wholesale at a profit.