Biden-Harris Administration Announces Two Texas Groups will Receive Over $405 Million to Deliver Residential Solar, Lowering Energy Costs and Advancing Environmental Justice

 USEPA News Release:

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Two Texas Groups will Receive Over $405 Million to Deliver Residential Solar, Lowering Energy Costs and Advancing Environmental Justice

                                    

EPA announces selectees under Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grant competition to deliver solar to low-income and disadvantaged households through the President’s Investing in America agenda

 

DALLAS, TEXAS (April 23, 2024) - As the Biden-Harris Administration celebrates Earth week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the Texas Solar For All Coalition will receive $249.7 million and the Clean Energy Fund of Texas will receive $156.120 million through the Solar for All grant competition to develop long-lasting solar programs that enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed residential solar. This award is part of the historic $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was created under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to lower energy costs for families, create good-quality jobs in communities that have been left behind, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis.

“Today we’re delivering on President Biden’s promise that no community is left behind by investing $7 billion in solar energy projects for over 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The selectees will advance solar energy initiatives across the country, creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, saving $8 billion in energy costs for families, delivering cleaner air, and combating climate change.” 

“This is a game-changing opportunity for us," said Harris County Administrator Diana Ramirez. "The grant allows us to deliver better, more reliable, and more cost-effective power to our communities. What a fantastic way to celebrate Earth Day!”

“We are grateful to the EPA for selecting this multifaceted project as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Solar For All program,” said Billy Briscoe, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Clean Energy Fund of Texas. “This partnership with minority serving institutions of higher education will lower energy burden for low-income communities, jumpstart the green economy with the creation of jobs through workforce training programs, and provide energy resiliency after a climate event.”

The Texas SFA Coalition includes Texas municipalities serving the low-income and disadvantaged community population (over 11 million people). The Texas SFA program will leverage federal funds, tax credits, and other sources to provide financial assistance and access to private capital to support residential multifamily and single family solar, battery storage, and energy efficiency deployments to improve community well-being and resilience to power system failures. The Texas program will support workforce training to serve low-income and disadvantaged residents, support minority-and women-owned businesses, and collaborate with community-based organizations. The coalition’s SFA programs can be extended within the member jurisdictions and expanded to other parts of Texas during and beyond the SFA grant period. 

The Clean Energy Fund of Texas (TxCEF), in partnership with the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University (BCECJ; jointly, CEFBC), will deploy technical assistance, private capital, and grants to minority-serving institutions. Together, these organizations will facilitate the development of residential-serving community solar projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities on the frontlines of energy policy and grid vulnerability challenges. Projects will drive expected emissions reductions, household utility bill savings, generate direct shared revenues through community ownership, and mobilize private capital. Projects will deploy solar and energy storage, delivering grid and community benefits by powering community resilience centers. These outcomes will deliver the benefits of greenhouse gas and air pollution-reducing projects to American communities. Based in Texas, TxCEF will operate in 19 states across the United States South and Southeast.

The grants are among 49 state-level awards EPA announced totaling approximately $5.5 billion, along with six awards to serve Tribes totaling over $500 million, and five multistate awards totaling approximately $1 billion.

A complete list of the selected applicants can be found on EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Solar for All website.

The Solar for All program also advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. All of the funds awarded through the Solar for All program will be invested in low-income and disadvantaged communities. The program will also help meet the President’s goal of achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net-zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.

EPA estimates that the 60 Solar for All recipients will enable over 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed solar energy. This $7 billion investment will generate over $350 million in annual savings on electric bills for overburdened households. The program will reduce 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions cumulatively, from over four gigawatts of solar energy capacity unlocked for low-income communities over five years. Solar and distributed energy resources help improve electric grid reliability and climate resilience, which is especially important in disadvantaged communities that have long been underserved.

Solar for All will deliver on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to creating high-quality jobs with the free and fair choice to join a union for workers across the United States. This $7 billion investment in clean energy will generate an estimated 200,000 jobs across the country. All selected applicants intend to invest in local, clean energy workforce development programs to expand equitable pathways into family-sustaining jobs for the communities they are designed to serve. At least 35% of selected applicants have already engaged local or national unions, demonstrating how these programs will contribute to the foundation of a clean energy economy built on strong labor standards and inclusive economic opportunity for all American communities.

The Solar for All program also advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. All of the funds awarded through the Solar For All program will be invested in low-income and disadvantaged communities. The program will also help meet the President’s goal of achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net-zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.

The 60 selected applicants have committed to delivering on the three objectives of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: reducing climate and air pollution; delivering benefits to low-income and disadvantaged communities; and mobilizing financing to spur additional deployment of affordable solar energy. Solar for All selected applicants are expanding existing low-income solar programs and launching new programs. In at least 25 states and territories nationwide, Solar for All is launching new programs where there has never been a substantial low-income solar program before. In these geographies, Solar for All selected applicants will open new markets for distributed solar by funding new programs that provide grants and low-cost financing for low-income, residential solar.

Review and Selection Process Information

The 60 applicants selected for funding were chosen through a competition review process. This multi-stage process included review from hundreds of experts in climate, power markets, environmental justice, labor, and consumer protection from EPA, Department of Energy, the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, Department of Treasury, Department of Agriculture, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Labor, Department of Defense, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Department of Energy’s National Labs – all screened through ethics and conflict of interest checks and trained on the program requirements and evaluation criteria. Applications were scored and selected through dozens of review panels and an interagency senior review team.

EPA anticipates that awards to the selected applicants will be finalized in the summer of 2024, and selected applicants will begin funding projects through existing programs and begin expansive community outreach programs to launch new programs in the fall and winter of this year. Selections are contingent on the resolution of all administrative disputes related to the competitions.

Informational Webinars

EPA will host informational webinars as part of the program’s commitment to public transparency. EPA has scheduled a public webinar for the Solar for All program, and registration details are included below. Information on other GGRF webinars can be found on EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Engagement Opportunities webpage.

Solar for All webinar: Monday, April 29, 2024, 4:00pm – 4:30pm ET. Register for the April 29 meeting.