Federal Cooperative Agreement Summary

Central Pines Regional Council received a $130,000 cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy under the Conservation Research and Development program (CFDA 81.086), awarded April 1, 2026, with completion scheduled for March 31, 2027. Under this award, the organization will serve as a Clean Cities and Communities (CC&C) Coalition coordinator, providing stakeholder engagement, technical assistance, and outreach services across its seven-county service territory in North Carolina (Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Orange, and Wake counties). The primary deliverables include market tracking, performance metric reporting, and coalition coordination activities designed to advance locally driven transportation energy choices and support the adoption of innovative mobility technologies.

The cooperative agreement supports the CC&C Coalitions program's broader objective of enhancing national energy security, promoting economic prosperity, and improving air quality through collaborative public-private partnerships. Central Pines Regional Council will leverage its established capacity as a regional planning organization to facilitate stakeholder collaboration, disseminate technical information, and document progress metrics that contribute to the Department of Energy's Transportation Technologies Office goals. This award aligns with the organization's existing portfolio of energy-related federal funding, including previous Department of Energy cooperative agreements totaling over $4 million for electric vehicle charging infrastructure and community energy resilience initiatives.