What happened
The EPA selected 60 applicants across the country as part of a $7 billion initiative that will impact more than 9,000 households, according to EPA Administrator Michael Regan. On April 22, The Texas Solar for All Coalition was awarded $249.7 million in grant funding.
"The selectees will advance solar energy initiatives across the country, creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, saving $8 billion in energy costs for families, delivering cleaner air, and combating climate change," EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.
The impact
Programs supported by this grant will expand access to rooftop and community solar projects and help lower customer bills by more than 20% in the targeted residential communities, according to a news release. Expected annual household savings will be an average of $1,740. The coalition designed a variety of programs, including energy storage, and preapprenticeship and community college workforce training opportunities.
The EPA anticipates awards to the selected applicants will be finalized in the summer. Selected applicants are expected to begin funding projects through existing programs and begin expansive community outreach programs to launch new programs this fall and winter.
"Over half the Texans living in disadvantaged communities within the coalition's footprint could be served by our statewide efforts," according to a statement from officials in Harris County, one of the coalition's members, which will also be leading the group.
Explained
The Texas Solar For All Coalition represent large municipalities, small and midsize cities and counties that span the urban, suburban and rural areas of the state, including Harris County, Tarrant County, Houston, Waco, San Antonio and Austin. The coalition includes officials from:
- Harris County: will be leading the coalition and represent county and local partners
- Dallas County: will represent city of Dallas, Tarrant County and local partners
- City of Houston
- City of San Antonio
- Opportunity Home: will represent San Antonio's housing authority
- City of Austin: will represent Austin Energy, Travis County and local partners
- City of Waco
- Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute: will represent partners in Cameron County, Willacy County, Brownsville, Laredo, El Paso
- Clean Energy Fund of Texas: will support the statewide single-family program
- Houston Advanced Research Center: will represent partners in Port Arthur and El Paso outside of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas discretion, and support Harris County and Houston
What they're saying
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement this initiative will ensure that energy jobs remain in the region.
"As the energy capital of the world, it is a matter of survival for Harris County to be at the forefront of the clean energy transition. This investment will not only protect our environment in a region that has lived the effects of climate change, but it will also ensure that energy jobs remain in the region as the world's energy sources continue to evolve," Hidalgo said.
Tarrant County Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons thanked members of her Environmental Advisory Committee and fellow court members in a statement.
"I am excited to see how we can use this federal money to provide benefits for some of Tarrant County's most economically disadvantaged residents while bolstering our grid and improving air quality," Simmons said.
Officials from the Houston nonprofit New Economy for Working Houston said in a statement that electricity for millions of residents costs too much and fails too often.
"Harris County officials must ensure that the jobs that will power this project are good union jobs, and that the poor and working-class communities of color that are so often disenfranchised from these opportunities are given access to these jobs through recruitment, training and additional support," Chair Hany Khalil said.
Zooming Out
The EPA's $7 billion Solar for All competition is part of a broader $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that was created under President Joe Biden's 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
