(The Center Square) — As part of the Biden Administration’s efforts to combat climate change and in honor of Earth Day, the Environmental Protection Agency Monday announced more than $7 billion in solar energy grants, including over $156 million for Virginia.
The grants were awarded to 60 selectees – mostly states or multi-state organizations, but also United States territories, tribal entities and nonprofits – through the EPA’s Solar for All program to bring solar energy to 900,000 low-income and disadvantaged households.
The funding will “lower energy costs for families and create good-quality jobs while advancing tackling the effects of climate change,” according to a press release from Virginia U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
“Solar energy is one of the keys to addressing the climate crisis, and has the added benefit of reducing energy costs for families,” the senators said in a joint statement. “Communities across the Commonwealth will benefit from these lower energy costs while gaining access to good-paying jobs and continuing to tackle the effects of climate change.”
Funding for the program comes from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, whose investments in climate and energy through 2031 were originally estimated at around $385 billion but have since been estimated at over $1 trillion in reports by Goldman Sachs and the University of Pennsylvania. The bill is the “single largest investment in climate and energy in American history” and aims to make America a “world leader in domestic clean energy manufacturing” and help propel the country to a net-zero economy by 2050, according to the Department of Energy.
The District of Columbia and Maryland received matching grants of approximately $62.5 million through the program.
The program falls under the administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which aspires to bring 40% of the benefits of federal climate and energy projects to underserved communities.
