Title
Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant
Action
Action:
A. Adopt a budget ordinance to accept and appropriate $777,930 in grant funds awarded from the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program for the Solarize project,
B. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Centralina Regional Council for the administration of a Solarize program with direct installation of solar on Low- and Moderate-Income homes, and
C. Authorize the City Manager to amend the agreement consistent with the purpose for which the agreement was approved.
Body
Staff Resource(s):
Sarah Hazel, Office of Sustainability and Resilience
Explanation
§ The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law appropriated $550 million to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to administer the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program.
§ The City of Charlotte has received a Notice of Award for its formula funding with an allocation of $777,930.
§ Staff applied to use these funds to support a Solarize program to include direct solar installations for low- and moderate-income (LMI) households.
§ Solarize programs are a DOE best practice which have proven successful at increasing solar installations both nationally and in North Carolina by reducing barriers and costs for homeowners and businesses to install solar through education and group purchasing power.
§ The grant award must be accepted, and these funds must be appropriated prior to the city initiating a contract to implement the Solarize campaign.
§ Modeled after the Triangle area’s successful Solarize the Triangle campaigns, the city will be contracting with Centralina Regional Council to administer the Solarize campaign.
§ To increase the reach and local environmental benefits of the program, the opportunity to participate has been extended to the other local governments in Mecklenburg County.
§ City grant funds will only be used to cover the city’s share of program administration ($213,000), the cost of LMI solar installations (~$545,000), and capacity building for local organizations working with LMI individuals (~$19,000).
§ Other participating local governments will pay their share of administration costs and any costs associated with LMI solar installations in their respective jurisdictions.
§ This program will support the Strategic Energy Action Plan’s goal of being a low-carbon community by 2050 by increasing the amount of renewable, carbon-free energy used to power homes and businesses. Specifically, this program addresses one of the Five Stages to Zero Carbon: generating energy onsite.
Fiscal Note
Funding: Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program
Attachments
Attachment(s)
Budget Ordinance