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

Austin, TX — 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 $405,820,000 in Texas.

Two Texas applicants received funding: 

Texas Solar For All Coalition and Clean Energy Fund of Texas. Texas SFA, led by Harris County, is a coalition of Texas counties and cities (including Dallas County, Tarrant County, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Waco) serving over 11 million low-income Texans. The coalition plans to support home solar panel installation and battery storage upgrades, and support workforce training for residents. 

The Clean Energy Fund of Texas partnered with Texas Southern University to support clean energy investments at HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions in 19 states across the South and Southwest. 

“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 Texas 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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