Energy Department Awards $5 Million to Spur Local Clean Energy Development, Energy Savings

The Energy Department today announced approximately $5 million in funding to 13 states to advance innovative approaches for local clean energy development that will reduce energy bills for American families and businesses, protect the environment by reducing carbon emissions and increase our nation’s energy security. In support of the Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, each state will design and deploy innovative programs to advance energy efficiency and renewable energy, ranging from programs targeting specific areas for advancement to more comprehensive plans that consider economic development along with resiliency and energy supply issues.

State Energy Planning

To assist the states of Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and South Carolina with their state and regional energy planning, the Energy Department will invest approximately $2 million to facilitate stakeholder and interagency discussions concerning the future direction of electric power among other issues. States will explore and enhance economic development opportunities associated with promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy as part of an “all-of-the-above” approach. They will also plan strategically for current and future environmental and economic goals related to the energy sector.

Opportunities for Innovative Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Practices

As a part of the effort to support the advancement of the residential, commercial and industrial markets for energy efficiency and renewable energy, the Energy Department will invest more than $3 million to assist Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. The funding specifically focuses on six transformative areas, including frameworks for evaluation, measurement and verification of energy and emission reductions; financing retrofits for public facilities; supporting partnerships with local governments and others to remove potential barriers to clean energy investments; benchmarking building energy performance using whole-building data; and policies and programs for distributed resources. Through this effort, states will also demonstrate how their model projects can be replicated by other state and local governments.

Since 2010, the State Energy Program has competitively awarded nearly $52 million to 33 states and territories for the development and implementation of plans that support transformative projects in energy efficiency and renewable energy. States and territories have used these funds to advance clean energy in a number of ways, including accelerating the use of energy service performance contracts and establishing self-sustaining financing models that reduce barriers which limit investment in residential, commercial and industrial energy efficiency. The projects announced today will continue this progress, advancing programs that support the development of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy resources that will bring the U.S. closer to its clean energy future.

The Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality and economic vitality. EERE’s State Energy Program provides funding and technical assistance to state and territory energy offices to help them advance their clean energy economy while contributing to national energy goals.