O&R Extends Deadline to Enter $50,000 Stem Classroom Grant Competition

Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R) plans to award $1,000 STEM Classroom Grants to as many as 50 educators at schools (pre-kindergarten through grade12) and youth groups for the 2023-2024 school year in communities located within O&R’s service area.

The current deadline to submit proposals is 5 p.m. on Friday, March 31, 2023. That deadline has been extended. The new deadline is 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2023. The STEM Classroom Grants Program application can be found online at School Programs & Grants.

Each applicant may request up to $1,000 to be used toward purchasing materials and resources for their project. The resources must be integral components of a well-planned classroom project/lesson plan and important to its success. O&R seeks educational proposals that range from formative ideas that explore learning concepts to fully tested models that are ready to be adopted or built. Ideally, the successful proposal would focus on the study of electricity and electricity production, natural gas exploration, renewables, and clean energy.

Past winning proposal topics have ranged from drone crop monitoring and robotic development to hydroponics and 3-D printed solar vehicle construction.

Last year, O&R awarded grants totaling almost $44,000 to support nearly 50 creative, cutting-edge classroom STEM projects. Over the past seven years, O&R has awarded 326 STEM Classroom Grants totaling nearly $290,000. Those grants ranged from $307 to $1,000.

About Orange & Rockland

Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R), a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, is a regulated utility. O&R provides electric service to approximately 300,000 customers in southeastern New York State (where its franchise name is Orange & Rockland) and northern New Jersey (where it’s Rockland Electric Company) and natural gas service to approximately 130,000 customers in New York.