Vote Solar Celebrates EPA’s Solar for All Awards Announcement
WASHINGTON, DC. – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today notified applicants for funding from the $7 billion Solar for All program of the status of their requests. The Solar for All program was established as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to benefit communities that have been forced to endure unaffordable energy bills, pollution from nearby power plants and its health impacts, and lacking economic benefits from a rich energy economy.
Vote Solar, a national nonprofit organization whose north star is clean energy for all, championed this program from its infancy, working in the House and the Senate to ensure that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) included funding for communities that stand to benefit the most from clean energy investment. Many states applied directly for funding, as well as non-profit organizations from the community to national-level. Vote Solar worked in partnership with states and community organizations across the Nation to craft and support applications for this critical funding.
Chief Programs Officer at Vote Solar, Sean Garren, offered the following statement:
“We are one step closer to getting this money to people who need it. It’ll help start projects that will save money on energy bills, create new jobs across the country, and make the air and water cleaner.
“Communities of color and communities near fossil fuel plants or infrastructure have, historically and at present, had to pay more for energy; financially and through public health impacts. They’ve reaped far less benefit in return.The challenge now is to ensure that these communities can harness the sun to improve health and build wealth.
“Vote Solar is focused on lending our deep stakeholder partnerships, policy expertise and communications to all successful applicants to drive direct engagement with communities, deep economic benefits and large scale development of clean energy. This will be an especially steep challenge for states that are behind the ball on opening up access to solar for all residents, like California. States still have the opportunity to adopt common-sense policies, like community solar, that will drive solar development at scale and allow for renters and older home owners to go solar. We must not let monopoly electric utilities continue to block investment in historically marginalized communities even as they hike rates and pollute our environment year after year.”
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