Homer Electric Association was among the recipients of federal funds from the Division of Forestry for defense against wildfires. The utility provider will receive $2,630,474 for a right-of-way clearing project.
The money comes as part of the third round of funding for the federal Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) program, which is open through February 2025. A total of $1 billion is available over a five-year period through the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act, which awards grants to at-risk communities to develop or revise a community wildfire protection plan and carry out projects from current community wildfire protection plans less than 10 years old.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to hold [maintenance] costs down,” said HEA Superintendent of Operations and Fleet Jeff Jaworski. “The money that’s being given to us is going to address ongoing maintenance needs in right-of-ways as well as our primary concern, which is danger trees outside of the right-of-way, which is the primary cause of our outages.”
According to Jaworski, the pursuit of the funds grew out of conversations with the borough Office of Emergency Management and the development of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan that addresses the risks of wildfires on the peninsula. “We were part of that conversation, and we’re educated a little bit more about how very important our rights-of-way were to a lot of these first responding entities.”
Individual grants for the CWDG will fund up to $250,000 for creating and updating community wildfire protection plans (CWPP) or conducting outreach and education and up to $10 million for associated infrastructure and resilience projects.
In the second round of funding, Alaska received a total of $3,130,474 for the following community wildfire protection planning and implementation projects:
- Bristol Bay Native Association: $250,000 for CWPP development
- Nenana Native Association: $249,863 for CWPP development
- Native Village of Tetlin: $129,000 for CWPP development
- Tok: $250,000 for CWPP development
- Delta: $250,000 for CWPP development
- Homer Electric Association (501c3): $2,630,474 for a right-of-way clearing implementation project
“To support further wildland fire mitigation efforts in at-risk communities, the State of Alaska is participating in the third round of the program to offer local applicants enhanced resources and assistance from the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection,” said Norm McDonald, Deputy Director of Fire Protection. “The division strongly encourages eligible communities and organizations to take advantage of this opportunity and apply for funding.”
For more information about the CWDG grants in Alaska, communities may visit http://forestry.alaska.gov/fire/cwdgrants or inquire directly for application instructions.