ATLANTA — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that more than $150 million has been awarded to a leading Georgia nonprofit to fund solar energy projects across our state through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund’s Solar For All program.
The Capital Good Fund, the lead nonprofit for the Georgia BRIGHT Communities Coalition, was awarded about $156 million in funding through President Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Solar For All program, created by the IRA, seeks to enable low-income and disadvantaged households across America to access the benefits of low-cost, clean solar energy — benefits that include home energy savings, energy resilience, improved air quality, wealth building, and quality jobs.
The Capital Good Fund was one of 113 eligible nonprofits that applied for funding through the program. A complete list of recipients of Solar For All awards can be found here. The climate law authorized $7 billion in funding for the program, but by last year’s deadline for applications, EPA had received requests totaling more than $38 billion.
In response to the news, Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Director G Webber released the following statement:
"The importance of bringing more solar power to Georgia cannot be overstated. There is a growing demand for electricity in our growing state, but this growth must be powered by clean energy in order to reduce our carbon emissions and stave off the worst impacts of climate change. It is imperative that utilities like Georgia Power and our elected officials like Gov. Brian Kemp, the Georgia Public Service Commission, and the Georgia Legislature take any and all actions available to them to make distributed solar projects more accessible to families in our state, including requiring utilities to pay a fair price for electricity generated by solar panel owners, also known as 'net metering.'"
Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Clean Energy Chair Scott Presson added:
"When our utilities are content to fall back on fossil fuels to meet this rising demand, it is encouraging to see nonprofits like the Capital Good Fund step up and push for more solar energy projects in Georgia. Furthermore, our state is home to some of the largest solar panel manufacturing facilities in the world, so when we invest in solar power, we are investing in our local communities."
About the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter
The Sierra Club Georgia Chapter is the largest grassroots environmental organization in the state, with more than 75,000 members and supporters. The Chapter supports a robust outings program and has active committees working on forest and coastal protection, transit expansion, and clean energy. For more information, visit sierraclub.org/georgia.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit sierraclub.org.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Ricky Leroux, Senior Communications & Policy Coordinator
404-607-1262 ext. 234 | ricky.leroux@sierraclub.org