The Nevada program promises lower energy bills for low-income communities

By Rhiannon Saegert (contact)

Wednesday, May 29, 2024 | 2 am

Lawmakers are pushing to make solar energy available to low-income and disadvantaged communities through the Solar for All initiative.

The Nevada Clean Energy Fund will receive $156 million from the program to help lower energy bills, reduce pollution, increase energy resiliency, invest in local businesses and create high-quality jobs, officials say.

The funds, officials say, are part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion investment to combat the climate crisis that the Biden administration tapped with money from the Inflation Reduction Act.

“Solar for All will provide much-needed financial and technical assistance to working families and disadvantaged communities in Nevada,” U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., said Tuesday at an event promoting the investment. “This simply means transforming the solar energy market and creating economic opportunities for communities throughout Southern Nevada.”

Officials say two-thirds of the funds will go to projects in communities that often struggle to access capital for proposals that reduce pollution and lower household energy bills. This includes communities of color, low-income, disadvantaged, rural and tribal communities, they said. As temperatures approached 100 degrees in North Las Vegas on Tuesday, elected officials and nonprofit leaders gathered to detail the program. During the outdoor event, the speakers were not affected by heat.

“The heat has just started, it’s barely started,” said Audrey Peral, Chispa Nevada program director. “So when we think about the impact of what that looks like in everyday life, when people have to choose between paying their utility bills and being able to afford food on the table or their rent.”

The Nevada Legislature created the Clean Energy Fund in 2017 to finance renewable energy project loans to local governments, affordable housing developments, community groups, tribes and individual homeowners. The organization provides loans to low- and moderate-income homeowners for solar installations or other energy efficiency improvements.

State Sen. Dallas Harris, R-Las Vegas, said the investments will help improve air quality in southern Nevada, particularly in low-income areas, and also improve job opportunities.

“The investment will provide education, technical assistance and workforce development in rural, suburban and tribal communities, ensuring no one is left behind in the clean energy transition,” Harris said.

Will Pregman, program manager for the Clean Energy Fund, said the money would launch community solar programs for low-income communities to reduce residential electricity bills. Community solar involves building a system in a public place that serves the surrounding neighborhood.

“We have earmarked a lot for multifamily and community solar, but we still have a significant amount that will go toward single-family (homes),” Pregman said. “That was part of our proposal and that may change as we work it out with the EPA.”

Community solar involves building a system in a public place that serves the surrounding neighborhood. Horsford said it’s too early to determine where community solar programs will launch in southern Nevada.

“This approach is truly a model for the country,” Horsford said. “I say we are very excited to learn that this benefits both renters and homeowners. This is not the case in every other jurisdiction.”