RCC Year 1 Annual Report: Tribal Energy and Climate Collaborative (TECC)

Overview

Award Amount: $1,749,910

Region: Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Imperial Counties

Partners:

Pala Band of Mission Indians, Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association (or SCTCA), Prosper Sustainably, and SCTCA's 24 other Member Tribes had been periodically collaborating on various ‘one-off’ climate change and clean energy projects for several years. The Strategic Growth Council's Regional Climate Collaboratives (RCC) grant has allowed this partnership to formalize by establishing Tribal Energy & Climate Collaborative (or TECC) with a meaningful amount of startup funding that is now being used to consistently and strategically work toward addressing the climate, energy, and related economic and workforce development needs and priorities of SCTCA's 25 Tribes.
Josh Simmons, TECC Co-Director

About the Collaborative

Tribes in California have, historically, been at the frontline of the climate crisis yet lack the resources and capacity to adequately respond to this threat. The Tribal Energy Climate Collaborative (TECC) is an unprecedented first step at bridging this gap by building a collective voice centered on tribal needs that advance climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience goals of the 24 diverse member tribes of the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association (SCTCA). TECC evaluates the climate priorities of each tribe, matches this with available funding and other assistance, and provides comprehensive support to acquire funds, resulting in a continuous stream of successfully completed tribal climate change plans and projects that are rooted in resiliency. Throughout this work, TECC supports tribal priorities in ways that also address other important community needs, such as tribal sovereignty, culture, health, and economy. Other priorities of the collaborative include policy & regulatory engagement, equity & inclusivity, training & capacity building, partnerships, and technical/grant writing assistance. Ultimately, this collaborative is focused on enabling tribes to forge their own path in developing a more climate resilient future for their respective communities.

Highlights in Year 1

In the first year of their work together, TECC focused on setting a strong foundation for the collaborative by engaging all of their partners in setting the vision and direction for TECC. Although the member tribes have a deep history of working together through the Southern California Tribal Chairman's Association, it was important to ensure that all tribes played a meaningful role in developing the governance structure and setting the priorities and strategic plan for the collaborative. In July 2023, TECC officially kicked off the regional climate collaborative with the inaugural meeting of the TECC Board, which is composed of leaders and representatives of each TECC member tribe. The first meeting of the Board focused on governance, tribal priorities, and requirements of the RCC program. Ongoing monthly board meetings serve as a continued space to convene and discuss energy, climate, and related economic development opportunities for member tribes. In March 2024, TECC Co-Directors met to review and refine a draft TECC Strategic Plan and establish an agenda for the upcoming Strategic Planning Summit. The day-long Summit took place in April 2024 and included more than 90 attendees representing SCTCA tribal members, external partners, and diverse climate and energy organizations. Participants were given an opportunity to provide input into TECC's mission, vision, and program areas; this feedback will be incorporated into the final update of the Strategic Plan and serve as a roadmap for TECC’s priorities in the coming years.

In addition to its strategic vision, TECC also focused on building partnerships with climate stakeholders and leveraging its collective capacity to identify and apply for funding that aligned with tribal priorities. In July and August 2023, TECC provided grant writing templates and assistance that led to more than 16 TECC tribes applying for U.S. Department of Energy Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Section 40101(d) Formula Grants for Preventing Outages and Enhancing the Resilience of the Electric Grid. To date, this effort has already secured more than $3.2 million, with millions in additional awards pending. In October 2023, three TECC tribes were awarded CPUC Equity, Engagement, and Education grants totaling $600,000. This funding supports a tribe’s capacity to engage in CPUC clean energy-related processes, programs, and regulatory proceedings. In June 2024, TECC engaged in the California Jobs First Southern Border Region through the San Diego County Tribal Sector and secured $125,000 for climate tech manufacturing feasibility studies.

Key Milestones:

Conducted 50 internal board and program management meetings and dozens of external meetings with current and prospective partners to advance TECC goals and strategies.
Partnered with UC San Diego to conduct a 2-day Tribal Microgrids and Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) Workshop in September 2023.
Pursued 500 Daikin electric heat pumps for tribal community members through Energy Solutions under CPUC’s TECH Clean California program.
Began partnering with Grid Alternatives to support tribes in securing CEC Communities in Charge Level 2 EV Charger rebates
Assisted several tribes in applying for CEC California Clean Energy Planning (CCEPP) funding.
Evaluated and shared information regarding more than a dozen other climate funding opportunities for TECC, including DOE Tribal Home Electrification Rebate Program, Office of Planning & Research Adaptation Planning Grant, U.S. EPA Climate Justice Community Change Grant Program, and California's Fifth Climate Change Assessment Tribal Research Grant Program Round 2.

What’s Next

In the coming year, TECC will continue to evolve its governance, partnerships, and overall strategic plan to coordinate, fund, and advance SCTCA Tribes’ climate-related priorities and projects. A significant component of this work will center on building the collective capacity of tTribes to identify climate change needs, align these needs with available funding opportunities, and successfully pursue and secure tens of millions or more in grants and other funding to address these needs. TECC has already identified numerous upcoming grant opportunities to focus on within the next six months, including California's Fifth Climate Change Assessment Tribal Research Grant Program Round 2 and other state and federal opportunities. TECC will continue to provide technical and grant writing assistance and other resources (e.g. templates, toolkits, etc.) to Member Tribes to engage with these efforts, in addition to tailored technical assistance that will both center tribal priorities and decision-making and promote climate resiliency.