High energy cost grant

Kawerak, Inc. received a $600,000 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (RUS) under the Assistance to High Energy Cost Communities program (CFDA 10.859) on May 27, 2025, with a completion date of May 27, 2027. The award supports energy infrastructure development and improvement initiatives in Nome, Alaska, a community where average residential energy costs significantly exceed the national average (275 percent or higher). Under this grant, Kawerak, Inc. will acquire, construct, or improve energy generation, transmission, and distribution facilities and/or implement renewable energy systems and energy efficiency measures to reduce energy costs for the high-cost community.

As a tribal consortium representing 20 federally recognized tribes across western Alaska, Kawerak, Inc. will leverage this funding to address the extreme energy cost burdens affecting Alaska Native communities in the Bering Strait, Norton Sound, and Yukon regions. The two-year project aligns with the RUS program's core mission of ensuring access to adequate and reliable energy services in rural, remote areas with documented energy cost crises, consistent with the organization's extensive track record managing federal energy development and infrastructure grants across Alaska.