PHILADELPHIA (April 22, 2024) – Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that the West Virginia Office of Energy has been selected to receive $106 million through the Solar for All grant competition to develop long-lasting solar programs that enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed residential solar. This award is part of the historic $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was created under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

The West Virginia Office of Energy will use SFA funding to deploy residential solar roofs, support home energy efficiency, reduce utility costs for low-income residents, and make West Virginia households more energy resilient. The West Virginia REAL Energy Resilient Roofs Program (WVRRP) will reach low-income and disadvantaged residents across the state of West Virginia to deliver solar to residents, communities, and college housing.  WVRRRP is supported by over a dozen organizations, cities, and community stakeholders from across the state seeking to deliver meaningful energy benefits and upgrades to disadvantaged West Virginia households. The program will mobilize financing and private capital to create good jobs, alleviate energy burdens, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save the most underserved homeowners in the state money on their electricity bills.

“Today we’re delivering on President Biden’s promise that no community is left behind by investing $7 billion in solar energy projects for over 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The selectees will advance solar energy initiatives across the country, creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, saving $8 billion in energy costs for families, delivering cleaner air, and combating climate change.”

“The health and economic benefits of renewable energy should be accessible to every community” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. “With today’s announcement, the Biden-Harris administration is investing almost $700,000,000 across the mid-Atlantic, enabling low-income and disadvantaged communities to make the transition to clean and affordable energy, while also reducing our impact on the world’s climate.”

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

Selections are contingent on the resolution of all administrative disputes related to the competitions.

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 on EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Engagement Opportunities webpage.