The Office of International Affairs (IA) coordinates Department of Energy (DOE) participation in the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), a key multilateral mechanism to advance energy security in the Western Hemisphere. ECPA provides a platform for governments to lead multi-country or bilateral initiatives on a voluntary basis. The ECPA platform comprises seven pillars of activity: energy efficiency; renewable energy; cleaner and more efficient use of fossil fuels; energy infrastructure; energy poverty; regional energy integration; and energy research and innovation. Since its founding in 2009, over 40 technical meetings, workshops, and policy dialogues have been conducted under the ECPA umbrella.

ECPA was announced at the Summit of the Americas in 2009. The United States hosted the first ECPA Ministerial in Washington in 2010; Mexico hosted the second ECPA Ministerial in 2015.  At the Mexico Ministerial, the Hemisphere’s Energy Ministers established a Steering Committee (composed of seven countries including the United States) to develop guiding principles and governance frameworks for ECPA and its activities.  Chile hosted the Ministerial in 2017, during which ECPA partners reviewed and endorsed the guiding principles.

The Organization of American States (OAS) hosts the ECPA website, located at www.ecpamericas.org, which contains details on ECPA’s activities and serves as clearing house for projects and events targeting energy and climate issues in the region. DOE and the State Department’s Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs are the U.S. focal points for ECPA.