Bianca Sanchez, bianca.sanchez@sierraclub.org
Vick Mohanka, vick.mohanka@sierraclub.org
BOSTON, MA – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Massachusetts’ Department of Energy Resources (DOER) was awarded $156 million in funding through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund’s Solar For All program. The competition, created by President Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act, 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.
Massachusetts DOER was one of 50 states and territories, 57 municipalities, and 113 eligible nonprofits that applied for funding through the program. A full list of recipients of Solar For All awards can be found here.
"Solar energy has the potential to cut energy costs and drastically reduce emissions. Here in Massachusetts, solar is especially underutilized in disproportionately-impacted environmental justice communities," said Sierra Club Massachusetts Director Vick Mohanka. "By increasing funding for low-income solar development, the federal government has committed to making sure the benefits of solar actually flow to households traditionally left out of the clean energy transition by state policies and utility companies."
President Biden’s IRA-funded Investing in America agenda 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.
"Crucially, most of the funding awarded today will be used to incentivize solar on rooftops of the Commonwealth’s existing buildings,” said Paul Dale, chair of the Sierra Club Massachusetts Energy Committee. “We must continue to make it easier for projects, especially medium and small size solar projects on commercial buildings and disturbed land, to obtain financing. These changes are critical to achieving the Massachusetts solar goals for 2030 and 2050, incentivizing solar projects where they have the least environmental impact, and fostering a stable Massachusetts solar industry.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of 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 www.sierraclub.org.