Arizona is expanding in renewable energy thanks to federal investment

Photos and audio: Samantha Callicutt

Arizona is on the front lines of new solutions to combat climate change thanks to federal investments in renewable energy.

That’s what Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said today at a press conference alongside Arizona State Senator Priya Sundareshan (LD-18) and other local solar industry leaders outside of local solar manufacturing facility Solar Gain Inc. in Tucson.

As of 2021, Arizona has received $10.5 billion in investments and incentives through the bipartisan Infrastructure Act (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

“We are building and deploying solar panels, batteries and other renewable energy technologies that will help reduce emissions and slow climate change,” Kelly said.

Senator Kelly added that these investments have created over 11,000 jobs across the state.

Senator Sundareshan added that both BIL and IRA are the most important pieces of climate legislation to come out of Congress in recent years, praising Governor Katie Hobbs’ efforts to address climate change.

“We thank our Arizona Governor, Katie Hobbs, who stood up to the Arizona Office of Resilience (OOR) to ensure Arizona could benefit from federal resources,” Sundareshan said.

The state senator also noted that OOR will soon provide approximately $153 million in home energy rebates for energy-efficient purchases for low- and mid-range households and $156 million in Solar for All grants and loans for residential expansion.

Solar for All is a program under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that will enable nearly more than 900,000 low-income households to use solar energy.

In April, Arizona was announced as one of 60 grant recipients.