The Morris Model team was recently notified that they were selected as one of the 33 winners in the second phase of the Energizing Rural Communities Prize. The competition was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and includes a $200,000 prize.
This is the second Energizing Rural Communities Prize the Morris Model has received. In June of 2023, the Morris Model as were among 67 winners in the first phase of the $6.7 million Energizing Rural Communities Prize.
This prize, managed by DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), challenges individuals and organizations to develop partnership and financing strategies that support community-driven energy improvement projects in rural or remote communities. The Morris Model Partnership seeks to make Morris a model rural sustainable community through clean energy and community resilience.
The Morris Model team submitted an application dossier that included detailed information about the clean energy demonstration projects that the team worked on during the past year. The team also created a 10-minute video describing their progress.
This prize is part of OCED's $1 billion Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) Program, which was created as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Law to demonstrate new ways to improve the resilience, reliability, safety, availability, and environmental performance of energy systems serving our nation’s rural or remote areas with populations of no more than 10,000 people. The ERA program reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued commitment to ensuring no communities are left behind in the historic transition to a clean energy future.
The Morris Model partners who participated in this competition include the city of Morris, University of Minnesota Morris (UMN Morris), Morris Area School District, and the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC).
The prize application highlighted progress on several projects that the team is working on. UMN Morris highlighted the LFP battery storage project and the 280kW expansion of on-campus solar PV and more. The city of Morris focused on the development of solar PV at the municipal freshwater and wastewater treatment plants. The school district installed 40kW of solar on the bus garage as part of the Solar for Schools program. And, WCROC highlighted their ongoing wind-to-hydrogen-to-ammonia work.
UMN Morris led the development of the prize application and video. Troy Goodnough, sustainability director, shares “Our Morris Model partnership continues to receive statewide and national attention for the work we are doing. Our team is working to build a clean energy future for rural communities as an opportunity for economic development opportunities and to generate savings. You can travel to Morris today and see a bit of the future. This recent prize is a reflection of the leadership and good work happening at the city, school, campus, WCROC, and other community partners. We are proud of our shared work and thankful to the Department of Energy for this recognition."