Governor Mills Announces $8 Million in Grants to Help Maine Communities Strengthen Resilience to Climate Effects

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May 1, 2025

Awards through the Community Resilience Partnership will support projects in 166 Maine cities and towns that protect people, businesses and infrastructure

Kennebunkport, MAINE-- Governor Janet Mills today announced the award of $8 million in grant funding through the state's Community Resilience Partnership to help communities protect people, businesses, and infrastructure from flooding, storm surge, and other climate effects.

This round of funding, the largest ever through the Partnership, will support projects in 166 communities throughout Maine, the most of any grant round since Governor Mills announced the Partnership in 2021. Since then, the Partnership has awarded $18.8 million in grants to Maine towns, cities, tribal governments, and regional planning, economic development, and community organizations.

Governor Mills announced the awards in Kennebunkport, where Partnership funding is supporting installation of a tide gauge in the Kennebunk River this spring. The installation is part of the town's broader initiative to develop a plan to prevent and mitigate flooding and improve resilience in the Dock Square riverfront area.

"In the last few years, my Administration and the Legislature have made significant investments in storm recovery and resilience to protect Maine from the effects of severe weather today and into the future," said Governor Janet Mills. "Through the Community Resilience Partnership, communities across our state are becoming more prepared for flooding, storm surge, rising sea levels and other climate effects that put lives and livelihoods at risk. We know more severe weather is ahead, and I'm proud to announce these latest grants today protect Maine people, businesses, and infrastructure."

"Maine communities from Kennebunkport to Caratunk are leading the way in addressing the impacts of climate change," said Hannah Pingree, Director of the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. "With support from the Community Resilience Partnership, they're making infrastructure more resilient against increasingly severe storms, reducing carbon emissions, and improving energy efficiency. As we celebrate this unprecedented round of grants to communities across Maine, we thank them for meeting the challenges of today head on and preparing to meet those of tomorrow."

"This $75,000 Community Resilience Partnership grant is a critical step forward for Kennebunkport. It allows us to continue the important work of understanding and addressing the flood risks facing the Kennebunk River and Dock Square. This area is not only vulnerable -- it's the heart of our town's economy and identity," said Laurie Smith, Kennebunkport Town Manager.

"The Community Resilience Partnership program provides municipalities an avenue for addressing needed resilience-related investments," said Catherine Conlow, Executive Director of the Maine Municipal Association. "Continued funding for the program will help municipalities implement locally identified improvements, while mitigating the impacts on their already overburdened property taxpayers."

Communities receiving grants from this grant round include Dover-Foxcroft, which is planning for extreme temperatures with energy-efficiency upgrades at a warming and cooling shelter; Jay to improve resilience for two critical culverts; Hallowell to stabilize the riverbank along the downtown waterfront; and Newcastle to add battery-based backup power to a solar array at the fire station and purchase portable rechargeable batteries to lend to residents during power outages.

Partnership grants have also supported other local initiatives to reduce emissions and costs to taxpayers through heat pump installations, lighting upgrades, and other energy efficiency upgrades.

A recommendation of Maine's climate action plan, Maine Won't Wait, the Partnership was launched by Governor Mills in December 2021 with an initial goal of assisting 100 communities in its first year. Maine met that goal, and today, 263 communities are participating, more than halfway toward the new goal set in the 2024 climate plan update to have 80% of Maine communities participating in the Partnership by 2030.

Funding for this round of grants comes from the supplemental budget signed by Governor Mills in May 2024, which included an additional $5 million for resilience grants from the Partnership. This investment followed unprecedented severe storms in December 2023 and January 2024 that caused an estimated $90 million in damage to public infrastructure in Maine. These grants are also partially funded by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and $3 million authorized by the Legislature in 2023 to support grants to eligible communities and to regional service providers that work to help communities join the Partnership.

With this additional State and Federal funding, the Partnership was able to increase its maximum award to communities from $50,000 to $75,000. Two or more entities could also jointly apply for up to $175,000, an increase from $125,000 in prior rounds.

The award of the fifth round of funding through the Partnership comes as the Infrastructure Rebuilding and Resilience Commission, which Governor Mills created in May 2024 following devastating winter storms, prepares to release its final report this month. The 24-member commission released an interim report in November 2024.

Last week, Governor Mills signed LD 1, landmark legislation she introduced with bipartisan legislative leadership that's directly responsive to the Commission's initial recommendations. Sponsored by Senate President Mattie Daughtry, House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, Senate Republican Leader Trey Stewart, and House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, the legislation is designed to enhance emergency planning at all levels of government, prepare communities and infrastructure for severe weather, and reduce long-term storm-related risks and costs for Maine homeowners and businesses.

For more information on the Partnership, including its 2025 report (PDF) and an interactive map of communities awarded grants through the program, please visit the Partnership's website.