ICYMI: Biden-Harris Administration Announces $7 Billion in Solar Power Funding for 900,000 Low-Income Households

Columbus, OH — On Earth Day, the Biden-Harris administration announced 60 grantees that will receive $7 billion in grant awards through the Solar for All grant competition. These awardees will provide solar energy to 900,000 low-income households in all 50 states while generating an estimated 200,000 jobs as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This funding includes $312,240,000 in Ohio.

Two Ohio applicants received funding: a partnership between Ohio Air Quality Development Authority and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and the Industrial Heartland Solar Expansion Initiative. The Air Quality and EPA partnership will focus on supporting projects to lower energy bills in low-income communities, and will help both homeowners and renters access solar. The Industrial Heartland Solar Expansion Initiative is a group of eight states led by Growth Opportunity Partners in Ohio, the first African-American led green bank in the country. The coalition plans to train residents in solar workforce development programs. 

“This week’s Solar for All announcement is further proof that President Biden is the strongest climate president our country has ever seen,” said Climate Power Interim States Managing Director André Crombie. “President Biden’s clean energy plan is creating good-paying jobs, reducing emissions, and saving Americans money on their utility bills. Thanks to President Biden, low-income families across Ohio will have access to cleaner, cheaper power. Clean energy is at the center of the first inclusive economic boom in our nation’s history—progress we risk losing if Donald Trump is elected in November.” 

The Biden-Harris administration’s Solar for All Program will reduce carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 30 million metric tons over five years, while also improving grid reliability and climate resilience. At least 35% of grant awardees have already engaged local or national labor unions for the estimated 200,000 jobs that will be created thanks to this investment. The Solar for All award also advances the administration’s Justice40 initiative, which is dedicated to ensuring that historically under-served communities are given the resources and investments necessary to fight pollution and climate change. 

While President Biden is firmly on the side of the American worker, President Trump is not: he gave Big Oil a $25 billion tax break, rolled back more than 100 environmental rules, and launched a war on the nation’s clean energy economy that cost jobs and stunted growth. President Biden, on the other hand, has created more than 271,000 jobs through his clean energy plan and closing Trump’s tax loopholes for Big Oil. 

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