💸Deployment
We have an incredible opportunity to create real impact, deploy solutions and transform the way we think about energy and our economy. This is a quick overview of funding available for deployment.
Each year, millions of Americans feel the effects of climate change when their roads wash out, power goes down, or homes get flooded. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a historic investment in the resiliency of our infrastructure to climate change, cybersecurity risks, and other hazards. This investment will help to protect communities against the impacts of climate changes such as droughts, heat, floods, wildfires, as well as cyber-attacks and other threats. It is also the largest investment in clean energy infrastructure in American history.
Read More About The Climate Investments Here
The IRA directs nearly $400 billion in federal funding to clean energy, with the goal of substantially lowering the nation’s carbon emissions by the end of this decade. The funds will be delivered through a mix of tax incentives, grants, and loan guarantees. Clean electricity and transmission command the biggest slice, followed by clean transportation, including electric-vehicle (EV) incentives.
While most of this funding is being deployed as tax credits and incentives, The Departments of Agriculture and Energy, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, will receive $120 billion combined to bolster climate, environmental justice, conservation, and resilience programs.
LPO provides debt financing for the commercial deployment of large-scale energy projects; however, for research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) and smaller projects, other offices within DOE offer funding and financing opportunities. For example, the Homeowner’s Guide to Going Solar provides valuable information from DOE's Solar Energy Technologies Office about financing home and small commercial solar systems.
After reading about the respective program's requirements, potential borrowers are encouraged to seek a pre-application consultation to discuss eligibility requirements and the application process directly with LPO staff. Including a brief description of the proposed project in your email is helpful.
Innovative Clean Energy Projects (Title 17), email lgprogram@hq.doe.gov
Advanced Transportation Projects (ATVM or Title 17), email atvmloan@hq.doe.gov
Tribal Energy Projects (TELGP), email telgp@hq.doe.gov
To learn more about how LPO likes to work with borrowers and how to eventually apply, visit the LPO Process page.
The Department of Agriculture's Rural Energy for America ("REAP") program provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. Up to $300 million of grant and loan guarantee funding has been announced under Section 22002 of REAP and 3,000 awards are expected. Renewable Energy System (“RES”) grants range from $2,500 to $1 million and Energy Efficient Improvement grants range from $1,500 to $500,000. Loan guarantees will be between $5,000 and $25 million. Application windows are ongoing with each type of award application has a specific deadline that immediately restarts the day after expiration.
The IRA will provide $837.5 million to provide loans and grants to fund projects targeting affordable housing and improving energy or water efficiency, enhance indoor air quality or sustainability, implement the use of zero-emission electricity generation, low-emission building materials or processes, energy storage, building electrification or to address climate resilience.
Eligible recipients are owners and sponsors of HUD-subsidized Section 202, 811, Project-based Section 8, and Section 236 properties that agree to an extended period of affordability.
The IRA will provide $2.6 billion for NOAA for conservation, restoration and protection of coastal and marine habitats and resources, including fisheries, to prepare for extreme storms and climate change effects, as well as for projects that support natural resources to sustain coastal and marine resource dependent communities. Funds may take the form of grants, cooperative agreements or technical assistance to coastal states, the District of Columbia, tribal governments, nonprofits, local governments and higher education institutes.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $1.5 billion in grant funding through the Rebuilding America's Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program for 2023. The popular program helps communities around the country carry out projects with significant local or regional impact.
RAISE discretionary grants help project sponsors at the State and local levels, including municipalities, Tribal governments, counties, and others complete critical freight and passenger transportation infrastructure projects. The eligibility requirements of RAISE allow project sponsors to obtain funding for projects that are harder to support through other U.S. DOT grant programs.
Recent examples of funded projects include a critical bridge replacement in Tucson, new berth construction at Port Tampa Bay, a new pontoon bridge in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, and a new snowmelt system in Berlin, New Hampshire.
Communities use a variety of sources to fund capital projects, pay for operations and maintenance costs, and sustain programs. It is expected that communities will continue to use a diversity of funding sources as they make investments in climate adaptation. No single source of funding (e.g., the federal government) can pay for all investments in climate adaptation across the nation.
Visit the EPA Climate Change Adaptation Resource Center (ARC-X) to get access to a incredible suite of resources including, technical assistance, grant forecasts and
A useful summary of the different types of funding sources, their advantages and disadvantages, and examples of several municipal programs that have employed them can be found in:
Getting to Green: Paying for Green Infrastructure (PDF)(43 pp, 2 MB, EPA 842-R-14-005 About PDF)
To help communities consider funding and financing options, EPA has established a network of Environmental Finance Centers that provide communities with innovative solutions to help manage the costs of environmental protection programs and activities. Use the link below to find a center near you.
EPA has also established a Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center that provides financial expertise to communities that are financing drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure.
Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center
The Forest Service stewards many of our nation’s most treasured landscapes. Within those landscapes are resources that people need and want, such as clean air and water, recreational opportunities and forest products. Impacts from climate change, extreme weather, and other disturbances—along with changing human demands—challenge our ability to ensure that ecosystems are healthy, resilient, and more adaptable to changing conditions. The Forest Service is using the best available science to adjust behaviors and actions to ensure our forests and grasslands continue to deliver values, products, and services both now and in the future.
Producers, ranchers, forest landowners, and communities across the country are facing challenges posed by the effects of climate change. Some of these effects are familiar but occurring more frequently or intensely while others are new and unprecedented.
USDA’s Department-wide Action Plan for Climate Adaptation and Resilience (PDF, 813 KB), released in October 2021, identified mission-wide climate vulnerabilities and cross-cutting actions USDA will take to address these threats.
USDA is investing $3.1 billion in 141 selected projects under Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. While this program is currently closed, we expect to see more action on this front in the near future. Details on individual projects are provided below.
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