Resource Library
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EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP)
MTERA has created a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) to promote policies, practices, and technologies that reduce pollution, create high-quality jobs, drive economic growth, and enhance the quality of life for all Midwest Tribes. Funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG), this plan focuses on reducing harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, addressing environmental injustices, and empowering community-driven solutions in Midwest Tribal communities.
To maximize the grant’s impact, MTERA partnered with eight Midwest Tribes. This plan’s analysis is grounded in the data and insight from this eight-Tribe subset of EPA Region 5 Tribes. The results and strategies are designed to be broadly applicable to Tribes across the Midwest regardless of where each is at in their climate action planning process – providing insight on major sources of GHG emissions by sector, the relative emissions reduction impacts, benefits, and costs of measures, and the process towards their implementation.
While several sections within this CCAP are a deep dive into the analysis of the eight participating Tribes, the findings and strategies from this CCAP are designed to be broadly applicable to Tribes throughout Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Additional Resources
- GHG Emissions Reduction Measures Tool
- Watch the Understanding the CCAP webinar
- CCAP Report Webinar Slides
- Priority Climate Action Plan
- Priority Climate Action Plan Combined Appendices (This document is now outdated with the publishing of the CCAP. For the most up-to-date information please refer to the CCAP instead.)
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Affordable and Accessible Solar for All: Barriers, Solutions, and On-Site Adoption Potential
“We begin this Solar Future Studies report with a review of the market and regulatory barriers to low-income solar access and affordability, and we summarize current solutions to those challenges (Section 2). In Section 3, we model future low-income on-site solar adoption, using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) dGen model. We expand existing dGen capabilities by creating new agent types by income class, building type (single-family and multifamily), and tenure (renter and owner). […]”
Categories: Technical Report -
Grid-Connected Distributed Generation: Compensation Mechanism Basics
This short report defines compensation mechanisms for grid-connected, behind-the-meter distributed generation (DG) systems as instruments that comprise three core elements: (1) metering & billing arrangements, (2) sell rate design, and (3) retail rate design.
Categories: Technical Report -
Solar Photovoltaic Financing: Residential Sector Deployment
Financing the cost of a residential photovoltaic (PV) system remains a challenge despite the various financial incentives available to homeowners at both the state and federal level. Traditionally, homeowners installing residential PV systems have used home equity loans, mortgage loans, or cash in combination with federal, state, and utility incentives to finance the total cost of the system, all of which are briefly described. More recently however, a number of new financial models have been developed to lower the financial burden associated with the installation of a residential PV system:
Categories: Technical Report -
Techno-Economic Renewable Energy Potential on Tribal Lands
“This study estimates the technical and economic potential for renewable energy development on tribal lands. […] This study was developed to support American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives in decision making as they evaluate technologies, potential scales of development, and economic viability. The resources analyzed here include wind, solar photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP), woody biomass, biogas, geothermal, and hydropower.”