Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday announced the third round of awards, totaling $66 million, to help fund energy efficiency projects in public buildings and encourage financial institutions to enable families and small businesses to save money and reduce their energy costs.
- The awards will be administered to 15 states and two U.S. territories through the Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund Capitalization Grant program, the department said. The awards aim to provide states and territories the wherewithal to issue loans and grants for energy efficiency audits, upgrades and retrofits, as well as measures that improve building comfort, according to DOE.
- The awards announced Friday are part of $242 million the RLF program plans to allocate, with 40% of the funds eligible for all states, territories and the District of Columbia and 60% reserved for priority states, according to the DOE. It expects to announce additional awards later this year.
Dive Insight:
This latest round of awards comes on the heels of DOE’s June announcement that six awards totaling $45 million would be administered to Washington, D.C., and five states: Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont and Indiana.
On Friday, the department reiterated a statement it made in June that each dollar invested by the federal government in a revolving loan fund can attract north of $20 in private capital.
The 15 states chosen to collectively receive the $66 million are Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Texas, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Rhode Island, DOE said. The two U.S. territories selected are Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Arizona will get $1.69 million to provide loans and grants to fund energy efficiency projects, including audits and retrofits, in commercial buildings. Iowa will get $7.06 million, which it plans to channel toward creating a new revolving loan fund for commercial and residential entities, involving a push for more energy-efficient ductless mini-split systems to replace inefficient baseboard heating, DOE said.
About $22.4 million of the $66 million has been allocated for Texas to establish a new revolving loan fund that operationally matches its existing Texas LoanSTAR program. The state will also offer a grant opportunity to provide free ASHRAE Level II energy audit services to community centers, per the release.
Increased opportunities for low-cost financing will expand access to clean energy tools that can save money and ‘benefit the residential, commercial and public sectors,” U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.
The RLF program aligns with President Biden’s climate goals of cutting emissions by 50% to 52% by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, per the release. In addition, the investments aim to further the president’s Justice40 Initiative, ensuring 40% of benefits from certain investments, including those related to climate and clean energy, flow to communities “marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution,” DOE said.
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