Grants will provide solar panels to low-income or disadvantaged communities

DENVER - The Colorado Energy Office and Oweesta Corp. will each receive $156,120,000 each to help provide rooftop solar panels to low-income or disadvantaged communities across the state, according to a news release.

“Although solar technology has become more affordable for residential use, many communities still face cost barriers to access,” said Regional Administrator KC Becker. “One of our goals with the Greenhouse Gas Reduction fund is to make clean energy more accessible, especially for communities who are both overburdened by climate change impacts and disproportionately excluded from green technology resources. The Solar for All program will make access to cleaner energy more equitable for Colorado communities.”

Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants are through the President’s Investing in America agenda. This award is part of the $27-billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was created under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to lower energy costs for families, create good-quality jobs in communities that have been left behind, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis.

The Colorado SFA (COS4A) program will provide single-family rooftop solar and multifamily rooftop solar across the entire state. The COS4A program represents a diverse array of stakeholders with the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) as the lead applicant, the release said. With varying expertise and capacity across its stakeholder network, COS4A will deliver the benefits of solar to low-income or disadvantaged communities. The EPA’s SFA grant will complement the robust solar market in Colorado by enabling the state to increase the number of communities that can take advantage of distributed solar investments and provide access to affordable, resilient, and clean solar energy. The program will help deliver lower utility bills improved public health through reduced pollution from power generation, creating wealth and jobs for local communities.

The Colorado Energy Office is among 49 state-level awards EPA announced totaling approximately $5.5 billion, along with six awards to serve Tribes totaling over $500 million, and five multistate awards totaling approximately $1 billion.

“We are grateful to the EPA for this funding, which will broaden access to solar power across the state,” said Colorado Energy Office (CEO) Executive Director Will Toor. “Expanding access to rooftop and community solar energy will not only help us achieve our clean energy goals, but will also lower energy bills, enable electrification, and reduce pollution for all Coloradans.”

Oweesta Corp., a Tribal nonprofit, was also selected to receive $156,120,000.

Oweesta Corporation’s SFA program will address adoption barriers to Native residential and community solar deployment by acting as the intermediary between professional services partners, developers, Tribal governments and Tribal organizations. Oweesta’s program will support an equitable spread of solar deployment across all Tribal census tracts nationwide. It will employ a systems-building approach to centralize regulatory compliance information, technical deployment, commercial solar standards, and Tribal housing expertise all within the framework of experienced Tribal Community Development Financial Institution’s (CDFIs). Based in Colorado, Oweesta Corporation's program will operate in Tribal lands across the nation.

"Oweesta Corporation is incredibly grateful to be chosen as an awardee for the Solar for All program," said Chrystel Cornelius, President and CEO of the Oweesta Corp. "This funding provided by the EPA's Greenhouse Reduction Fund initiative will ensure Native communities can equitably participate in the clean energy economy and will provide the opportunity for energy independence, cost saving benefits and energy resiliency for Native communities across the nation."

A complete list of the selected applicants can be found on EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Solar for All website.

EPA will host informational webinars as part of the program’s commitment to public transparency. EPA has scheduled a public webinar for the Solar for All program, and registration details are included below. Information on other GGRF webinars can be found at EPA’s GGRF webpage.