The Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), today released a Notice of Intent announcing $550 million to support community-based clean energy in state, tribal and local governments — serving more than 250 million Americans.
Applications for the EECBG Program will open in January 2023. The funding will be available until it is expended.
Qualifying programs may include, but are not limited to, energy efficient technologies, renewable energy applications, alternative fuels, distributed energy resources and low- or no-carbon transportation, according to a press release from the DOE.
This investment in American communities, through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program, will support communities across the country to develop local programming and deploy clean energy technologies to cut emissions, reduce consumers’ energy costs, and help meet President Biden’s goal of a net-zero economy by 2050.
“This funding is a streamlined and flexible tool for local governments to build their clean energy future,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “State, local, and Tribal communities nationwide will be able to leverage this funding to drive greater energy efficiency and conservation practices to lower utility bills and create healthier environments for American families.”
The EECBG Program will fund 50 states, five U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, 774 tribes, and 1,878 local governments in a variety of capacity-building, planning, and infrastructure efforts to reduce carbon emissions and energy use and improve energy efficiency in the transportation, building, and other related sectors. For example, communities with this funding can build out electric vehicle infrastructure and deploy community solar to serve areas that otherwise do not have access to electric vehicles or clean energy.
The $550 million made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) represents the second time that the EECBG program has been funded, the first of which was through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. With this most recent funding, communities can build on prior investments and leverage additional clean energy funding from DOE, other federal agencies, and the private sector to achieve sustained impacts that can put their communities on a pathway to decarbonization.
Through the EECBG Program and the Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), DOE will support the many diverse state, local, and tribal communities across the U.S. as they implement this funding and other clean energy projects. To ensure no communities are left behind, the program aligns with President’s Justice40 initiative to help ensure that 40% of the overall benefits of clean energy investments go to underserved and overburdened communities.
