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Solar for All
Deploying Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Solar for All funds to communities effectively and efficiently within five years of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s awards to states will require sustained and strategic collaboration across the country. This is why CESA’s Solar for All team actively supports states through a portfolio of activities and resources, coordinated with federal agencies, national labs, and other national nonprofits.
Solar for All is a competitive grants program administered by EPA. It will provide states with $7 billion to expand solar access to low-income households and disadvantaged communities between 2024 and 2029. Building on over a decade of expertise in LMI solar, including the DOE-funded Scaling Up Solar project, CESA is a trusted partner for state agencies deploying Solar for All funds. CESA assisted 40+ states in applying to the Solar for All competition, and is continuing its state support activities as states embark on their implementation journey, leading up to and after the award decisions in March 2024.
CESA convenes state agencies across the country to exchange on Solar for All and learn from one another, covering wide-ranging topics. These meetings are reserved to state staff only (and affiliate organizations), and are not open to the public or recorded.
State meetings are an opportunity to exchange with other states facing similar challenges, explore solutions together, and share best practices to advance Solar for All state programs. To be made aware of future state meetings, state agencies and green bank staff can sign up for our mailing list here. Additional and more targeted working groups will be developed as implementation work gets under way.
Office hours. CESA Solar for All office hours are held every Wednesday, from 3 to 4:30 pm ET.
- What are CESA office hours? CESA office hours are an open line of communication among Solar for All awardees. Sometimes CESA staff may have answers for you, but often the value of office hours will be talking to other states, sharing ideas, working through a problem together, and exchanging information gathered within our respective information silos.
- What do we talk about in these meetings? There is no agenda. All GGRF Solar for All topics are welcome, from large program design strategies to nitty-gritty details of budgets or navigating the federal grants process.
- What does it look like? They vary in size, but it is usually a small group of people, and every week is different.
- Who can sign up? All Solar For All awardees are welcome to attend. Private sector consultants may not participate.
- How to sign up? Email Meghan indicating your Solar for All affiliation to receive a calendar invitation.
- Do I have to commit to attending all of these? No. Attend one or attend them all. There is no commitment.
To stay up to date on Solar for All activities, resources, and news, state agencies and green bank staff can sign up for our mailing list here.
CESA’s activities are driven by states. Let us know what your state agency’s needs are, including your ideas for activities that would be well-suited for action by multiple states, by emailing Vero Bourg-Meyer. Note that CESA is not an advocacy organization and that we do not offer services to other sub-national actors, for-profits, or non-profits (other than those affiliated with state agencies such as green banks or part of a state-wide program).
Selected Resources:
CESA’s Scaling Up Solar resource page contains many more resources to support stakeholders in building LMI solar programs, include consumer education, consumer protection, tools, and templates for state programs.