$156 million federal grant will soon make solar energy a reality in New Zealand • Nevada Current

While the popularity of rooftop solar panels has skyrocketed among households looking to invest in renewable energy while saving money on electricity, high up-front costs prevent lower-income residents from taking advantage of the carbon-saving technology.

But a $156 million federal grant to increase solar energy use in low-income Nevadans over the next five years offers a chance to change that.

Last month, the Nevada Clean Energy Fund received a multimillion-dollar “Solar for All” grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to support local solar projects that benefit low-income households.

Nevada received the highest per capita award amount of any state. In fact, Nevada received the same award amount as Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania – states with much larger populations.

The program opens the door for low-income residents and disadvantaged communities – those most impacted by climate change – to access solar energy without the financial burden of prohibitive installation costs.

During Wednesday’s meeting of the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Growth and Infrastructure, Kirsten Stasio, CEO of the Nevada Clean Energy Fund, said affordable housing developers and local solar developers could receive financing for projects as early as December 2024.

“The opportunity before us is unlike any we have ever seen,” Stasio said. “With these funds, we will launch low-income solar programs for single-family homes, affordable multifamily buildings, as well as local solar projects.”

The Nevada Clean Energy Fund was created by state law in 2017 to provide financing and technical assistance for clean energy projects in Nevada, but regulatory barriers and a lack of funding have prevented the fund from pursuing large-scale community solar projects.

Many Nevadans are unable to invest in rooftop solar due to the high upfront costs associated with installation. Tenants in the state have also been sidelined by the solar boom due to a lack of solar infrastructure.

“Community solar is really critical to making solar accessible to low-income communities and specific renters who make up a large portion of the population, and those renters don’t necessarily have control over the roof,” Stasio said during Wednesday’s meeting.

Other aspects of community solar have discouraged many lower-income residents from participating, including lengthy tenant contracts, sometimes lasting 30 years, and penalty fees for leaving the contract prematurely.

Until 2021, Nevada’s law would also prohibit people living in individually metered multifamily buildings from using solar energy on the roof of their building. Senate Bill 488 addresses this problem by allowing owners of apartments, multi-family homes, and commercial buildings to take advantage of the rooftop solar net metering program.

“Low-income households in particular are often left behind in the clean energy transition due to a lack of funding and technical assistance to access these funds. However, they are the ones who need solar energy the most and usually bear the highest energy costs,” Stasio said.

The federal requirement for the $156 million grant requires that each household receiving the funds must achieve at least 20% savings in energy costs. The Nevada program will partner with local governments, schools, nonprofits, tribes and utilities to combine Solar for All funds with federal tax credits to create community solar projects that share energy cost savings with low-income households. income.

The funding is part of a $7 billion federal grant program administered by the EPA and established with funds from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

Once the EPA reviews and approves the finalized recipient documents, the Nevada Clean Energy Fund will be able to make $156 million available to finance community solar projects in the state, Stasio said.

“Until this happens, we will not be able to start raising funds, at least for significant program activities,” Stasio said.

By 2025, low-income single-family homes that want to benefit from funds from the Nevada Clean Energy Fund will also be able to apply for them.

“We will have two different options: a freehold option for households that have that capacity, and a lease option for households that don’t,” Stasio said.

Stasio said the Nevada Clean Energy Fund is currently working with regional housing authorities and major affordable housing developers in Nevada to identify opportunities to install solar energy in affordable housing.

The EPA grant builds on other funding recently awarded to the Nevada Clean Energy Fund, including a $7.7 million federal grant awarded in February to purchase 25 electric school buses statewide.

“We can achieve this goal at no cost to the school district, which is why we are already receiving requests,” Stasio said.

“These electric school buses reduce maintenance costs by approximately $15,000 per bus per year and also keep children safer and free from harmful diesel air pollutants that can cause asthma and other respiratory diseases,” she continued.

This funding was awarded through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean School Bus Program under a bipartisan infrastructure bill that provided $5 billion for districts across the country to purchase zero- and low-emission school buses.