The spirit of the holiday season was on display during the Neoga Hometown Christmas community celebration on Saturday, November 25, as residents gathered around the city’s new evergreen tree. Adorned with lights for the holidays, the tree was planted in the fall thanks to a RISE community grant provided by Earthrise Energy.

An independent power producer and owner of the Shelby County Energy Center, Earthrise Energy awarded Neoga Partnership for Progress a $5,000 grant for a beautification project to enhance Neoga’s downtown and enhance biodiversity. As a result, NPP was able to plant the evergreen tree and has plans to incorporate native plant species in the downtown landscape.

“We applaud Neoga Partnership for Progress for its efforts to build a more vibrant community and sow the seeds for a greener downtown area,” said Jonathan Pike, senior director of development at Earthrise Energy. “We are thrilled to join them and support biodiversity by encouraging the planting of native plant species needed to ensure a thriving ecosystem.”

Earthrise Energy launched its RISE Grant program in 2022 to help fund initiatives that support the communities where it has operations. Since then, the company has awarded more than $100,000 in grants to organizations working across Illinois to encourage excellence in education, protect the environment, and support civic life.

“We thank Earthrise Energy for its continued support through events in the community and especially through this grant. The RISE grant has allowed us to plant the seeds for a better, greener tomorrow and nurture biodiversity in our own downtown area. We are excited for this new 12-foot Christmas tree to be the first step and can’t wait to continue this project into next spring,” said Cassidy Smith, president of Neoga Partnership for Progress.

For more information about NPP, go to https://www.facebook.com/NeogaPartnershipForProgress.

Earthrise Energy

Earthrise Energy, PBC, is an independent power producer with a mission to reduce power sector greenhouse gas emissions faster than ever before. The company acquires, owns, and operates legacy fossil fuel assets and repurposes the transmission infrastructure for renewable energy development projects, bringing them online faster than typical greenfield renewable energy projects. Earthrise has 1.7 GW of gas-fired generation capacity and has a solar development pipeline of more than 2 GW.