Biden-Harris Administration Announces $20 Billion in Grants to Mobilize Private Capital and Deliver Clean Energy and Climate Solutions to Communities Across America

On April 4, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its selections for $20 billion in grant awards under two competitions within the historic $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which was created under the Inflation Reduction Act as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The three selections under the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund and five selections under the $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator will create a national clean financing network for clean energy and climate solutions across sectors, ensuring communities have access to the capital they need to participate in and benefit from a cleaner, more sustainable economy. By financing tens of thousands of projects, this national clean financing network will mobilize private capital to reduce climate and air pollution while also reducing energy costs, improving public health, and creating good-paying clean energy jobs in communities across the country, especially in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

Vice President Kamala Harris and EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan will announce the selections under these two grant competitions in Charlotte, North Carolina. While in Charlotte, the Vice President and Administrator will meet with a homeowner in a historically Black community, where a local nonprofit, Self-Help, worked with community partners to finance, renovate, and construct energy-efficient, affordable homes for low- and moderate-income families. Thanks to that partnership, this first-time homeowner pays significantly lower energy bills and has a healthy and comfortable place to raise his family. The selections the Vice President is announcing will ensure more families can experience those same benefits. In fact, one of the selections being announced today will allow Self-Help and its partners as part of the Climate United Fund’s application to deliver similar home efficiency projects to over 30,000 homes across the country.

Collectively, the selected applicants have committed to driving significant impact toward the program’s objectives. They will reduce or avoid up to 40 million metric tons of climate pollution per year, making a significant contribution to the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate goals. They will mobilize almost $7 of private capital for every $1 of federal funds, ensuring that each public dollar is leveraged for significant private-sector investment. And they will dedicate over $14 billion of capital—over 70% of the selections for awards announced today—toward low-income and disadvantaged communities, making the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund the single largest non-tax investment within the Inflation Reduction Act to build a clean energy economy while benefiting communities historically left behind.

To date, the eight selected applicants have supported thousands of individuals, businesses, and community organizations to access capital for climate and clean energy projects. With their awards, selectees will unleash tens of thousands of more projects like these across the country for decades to come:

1. When her water heater died, Mildred Carter in DeSoto, Georgia could not immediately afford to replace it. With the support of Power Forward Communities coalition member Rewiring America, Mildred was enrolled in a whole-town demonstration program that would combine Georgia Power incentives of up to $5,000 with philanthropic support for energy efficiency upgrades in her home. Her brand-new heat pump water heater was installed on December 23, just in time for the holidays.
2. The National Trust Community Investment Corporation, Appalachian Community Capital’s partner, recently led the charge on a $5.7 million sustainable rehabilitation of the historic National Guard Armory building located in one of Owosso, Michigan’s underserved communities. Alongside the Shiawassee Chamber of Commerce, the organization helped transform the space into an incubator for Owosso’s small businesses and local nonprofits complete with high-efficiency, all-electric heating and ENERGY STAR certified appliances.
3. Opportunity Finance Network member Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF) operates in Florida, which has experienced some of the most disastrous effects of the climate crisis. SELF, a U.S.-Treasury certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), recently partnered with Miami-Dade County’s Office of Resilience to invest in solar power, window and roof upgrades, and aging-in-place upgrades—including the installation of solar panels and battery backup systems for Gibson Plaza, a 65-unit affordable senior housing project. These investments have helped the community reduce energy costs while also building resiliency, ensuring residents can stay in their homes and remain protected against future climate impacts.

“When President Biden and I made the largest investment in our nation's history to address the climate crisis and to build a clean energy economy, we made sure that every community would be able to participate and benefit,” said Vice President Kamala Harris. “The grantees announced today will help ensure that families, small businesses, and community leaders have access to the capital they need to make climate and clean energy projects a reality in their neighborhoods.”

“President Biden and Vice President Harris have put communities at the center of their Investing in America agenda. Today, we’re putting an unprecedented $20 billion to work in communities that for too long have been shut out of resources to lower costs and benefit from clean technology solutions,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The selectees announced today will deliver transformational investments for American communities, businesses, and families and unleash tens of thousands of clean technology projects like putting solar on small businesses, electrifying affordable housing, providing EV loans for young families, and countless others. That translates to good-paying jobs, energy bill savings, and cleaner air, all while delivering on President Biden’s historic agenda to combat climate change.”

"So many families face the same challenges: something breaks, you can’t afford to replace it, and the short-term solution is really no solution at all,” said homeowner Mildred Carter of DeSoto, Georgia. “I’m grateful for the help I got to install a brand-new heat pump water heater that provides me all the hot water I need while saving energy and money. And I’m grateful that there’s now going to be more options for families that will make these new appliances affordable and bring the benefits to them too."

Together, the eight selected applicants have committed to delivering on the three objectives of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: reducing climate and air pollution; delivering benefits to communities, especially low-income and disadvantaged communities; and mobilizing financing and private capital. As part of this collective effort, selected applicants have committed to:

• Fund projects that will reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year—equivalent to the emissions of nearly 9 million typical passenger vehicles—making a significant contribution to the President’s climate goals of reducing emissions 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by no later than 2050.
• Dedicate over $14 billion toward low-income and disadvantaged communities, including over $4 billion for rural communities as well as almost $1.5 billion for Tribal communities—ensuring that program benefits flow to the communities most in need and advance the President’s Justice40 Initiative.
• Achieve a private capital mobilization ratio of nearly 7 times, with every dollar in grant funds leveraged for almost seven dollars in private funds over the next seven years—turning $20 billion of public funds into $150 billion of public and private investment to maximize the impact of public funds.

These commitments have been taken or derived from the application packages that selected applicants submitted to EPA and adjusted for the amount of funding received. Moving forward, EPA will work with selected applicants to revise their application packages into workplans that reflect formal commitments through the award agreements. Read what the eight selected applicants have committed to deliver on in their application packages.

“After more than a decade of hard work, our vision to create a national climate bank is a reality. Thanks to the $20 billion we secured in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will draw on the experience of public, semi-public, and non-profit community leaders to unleash tens of billions of dollars to deliver more than money, but also justice, to disadvantaged communities. As the single largest climate investment in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will cut emissions, protect health, and create job and economic opportunities so that communities won’t just survive but thrive for generations to come. Even more than money, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is delivering hope – hope for justice and for a livable future.  I applaud the Environmental Protection Agency’s work to quickly stand up this critical program while ensuring transparency and collaboration,” said U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey, Chair, Senate EPW Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety, and co-author of the National Climate Bank Act.

“Fifteen years ago, we laid out our vision for a national climate bank that would bolster our efforts to combat global warming by accelerating investment in clean energy. We turned that vision into reality by establishing the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund through the Inflation Reduction Act – and today’s deployment of $20 billion from that Fund is a pivotal moment in America’s fight to confront the climate crisis while driving inclusive economic growth. These funds will serve as a catalyst for private investment in job-creating projects to cut carbon emissions, spur clean energy innovation, and advance environmental justice in underserved communities that have borne the brunt of climate change. Today’s investments are just the beginning – they will be multiplied seven times over to turbocharge our transition to a clean energy economy,” said U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, who first introduced legislation to create a national green bank in 2009 when he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“These awards are making clean energy financing accessible to low-income and underserved communities that have for far too long carried the brunt of environmental pollution, helping us attack the climate crisis head on and creating jobs while lowering energy costs. These investments will fund projects that otherwise would not have been possible, and will mobilize nearly seven times as much in private capital. I’m proud to have helped author and pass the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and look forward to continuing to invest in the most impactful and urgent projects to reach our climate and environmental justice goals,” said Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06).