Biden-Harris Administration Awards Over $17 Million to 61 Local and Territorial Governments to Support Community Clean Energy Projects

Grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Will Fund Clean Energy Infrastructure Projects in Communities Ranging from Energy Workforce Development Programs, Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, Recycling Projects

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced its next round of award recipients through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program. The EECBG Program will distribute more than $17.7 million to 61 local and territorial governments to improve energy efficiency, reduce climate pollution, and lower overall energy use. Funded by President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and managed by the Department's Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), the EECBG Program is designed to fund a wide range of energy efficiency and decarbonization projects. Communities across the country are investing in projects and programs that save energy, reduce climate pollution, and advance local energy goals. 

"The success of America's clean energy transition will be found at the state and local level which is why President Biden and Vice President Harris have helped transform local clean energy plans into real, lasting actions," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. "The EECBG Program recognizes that climate solutions are not one-size fits all and provides localities with the tools needed to increase access to clean energy and boost energy resilience through community-led initiatives."

This is the tenth tranche of formula awards granted to EECBG Program eligible entities. Since the first awards were announced in October 2023, 294 communities have benefited from the program. For example, the City of Livermore, CA was the first to use a EECBG Program Voucher to build an off-grid, solar EV charger that doubles as emergency lighting for the community during extreme weather events. DuPage County, IL has installed lighting that will reduce energy consumption by 50% and completed a clean energy workforce analysis that will contribute to developing new, good quality jobs for the community.

Grantees announced this month will develop net-zero building roadmaps, bolster recycling programs, launch residential energy efficiency rebate programs in disadvantaged communities, expand bike lanes and pedestrian walkways, update street and building lighting with LED technology, purchase electric vehicles and install charging infrastructure for municipal fleets, and more. This funding will advance the President's Justice40 Initiative which sets the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

Learn more about what grantees in this tranche are doing with their funds below and on our website.

Atlanta, GA will use its funding for multiple municipal building projects including assessments, retrofits, benchmarking, and certifications in the city's least energy efficient buildings. These facilities include a wellness center, a fire station, and a municipal market where vendors currently struggle with high energy costs. The city will also create a standardized process and software platform for automating municipal building data collection and analysis at a portfolio level to meet its goal of 100% clean energy by 2035. (Award Amount: $528,330) 

Birmingham, AL will establish the city's first clean energy-registered apprenticeship, created in partnership with public schools, a local non-profit, and a union. The four-year apprenticeships will provide training in sheet metalworking and air quality technician certifications. High school students may begin their first-year courses through a local union during their senior year. The city will also contribute to the operational costs of a summer camp that introduces high school students to clean energy construction trades. This program will follow key activities from EECBG Program Blueprint 6: Workforce Development.(Award Amount: $252,880) 

Contra Costa, CA will provide electric appliances and other energy efficiency upgrades for home-based childcare facilities in disadvantaged communities. The transition from natural gas appliances to electric aims to improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality while reducing consumer energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, funds will be used to develop a County All-Electric Buildings Roadmap, including a building inventory analysis and plans for the electrification of all municipal buildings. (Award amount: $356,510) 

Detroit, MI will launch a benchmarking technical assistance program for owners of affordable housing units, community organizations, and places of worship. This initiative supports a resolution by Detroit City Council that requires all property owners to track and disclose their annual energy and water usage. The city aims to partner with a local organization to promote stakeholder engagement, compliance, and progress under this resolution. Additionally, Detroit will further advance its sustainability goals by hiring two new energy professionals to spearhead projects in renewable energy and municipal building energy management. Overall, the city of Detroit will pursue a range of EECBG Program Blueprints to achieve its goals. (Award amount: $582,030) 

Euless, TX conducted energy-efficient lighting upgrades at the Parks at Texas Star Sports Complex. Specifically, the city replaced over 380 metal halide lighting fixtures with energy efficient LEDs across five baseball fields and one soccer field. (Award Amount: $117,300) 

Greenville County, SC will purchase public single-stream recycling containers to replace inefficient dual-stream receptacles across the county. The county will also install fiber compactor units in strategic locations to increase the hauling efficiency and decrease emissions associated with transporting those materials. Greenville estimates this project will mitigate over 150 metric tons of carbon equivalent emissions every year. (Award amount: $393,510) 

Indianapolis, IN will launch a learn-on-the-job workforce training program to audit up to 200 municipal buildings in partnership with the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, a DOE Industrial Assessment Center. Indianapolis will also create a new energy management software to track internal benchmarking. The city will hire an Energy Manager to interpret the benchmarking data, develop an enterprise-wide Energy Team, and generate new energy efficiency strategies. The city will leverage its remaining funds for a pilot program to demonstrate how a Strategic Innovation Fund for priority retrofit projects could be implemented. To execute the pilot, the Energy Team will use the workforce audit program data to determine locations where high-efficiency lighting updates would maximize impact, work with city staff to implement those installations, and capture the savings outcomes. Each of these project components follow key activities from the EECBG Program Blueprint 2A: Energy Efficiency - Energy Efficiency Audits and Building Upgrades. (Award amount: $787,040) 

Jonesboro, AR will deploy their funds to provide energy efficiency upgrades and assessments to infrastructure across the city. First, the city will provide grants to nonprofit organizations for building retrofits - ultimately saving the non-profits money and promoting the sustainability of their public infrastructure. This project will follow key steps from Blueprint 2C: Building Electrification Campaign. The city will also replace approximately 70 high-pressure sodium streetlights with LEDs in local communities to enhance roadway safety and reduce energy usage. Remaining funds will be deployed for an energy assessment of Jonesboro City Hall. The latter two projects will follow key steps from Blueprint 2A: Energy Efficiency - Energy Audits and Building Upgrades. (Award Amount: $137,970)

Largo, FL will pursue several efforts to reduce emissions across the city. First, the city will host community classes to teach residents how to read energy bills, use smart devices and smart meters, and take advantage of weatherization and home energy upgrades. Energy Audit Kits and renter-friendly retrofit kits will be available for check-out at the City of Largo Public Library. Second, Largo will purchase an energy management and monitoring software to provide standardized utility bill analysis on the city website for public view. In support of electric vehicle adoption, the city will replace four aging Level 2 EV charging stations that are available for public use. Lastly, funding will go towards lighting upgrades in the City of Largo Public Library with an anticipated 35 percent reduction in annual energy usage and cost savings of $69,215 annually. (Award amount: $140,740)

Milwaukee, WI will complete several projects to advance its net-zero goals. First, the city will fund a virtual emissions forecasting dashboard for city facilities. Second, Milwaukee will leverage an energy-saving performance contract and city personnel to conduct audits and implement energy efficiency upgrades in municipal buildings. Likely efficiency upgrades will include new LED lighting, compressed air leak mitigation, and EV charging. This project combines key activities from several EECBG Program Blueprints. (Award amount: $522,370)

Oklahoma City, OK will pursue two distinct projects. First, the city will host a design competition to promote resilient and energy efficient housing. Architects may compete by submitting sets of construction plans for energy efficient and resilient single-family homes, accessory dwelling units, and duplexes. Each set of permit-ready resilient housing plans will be required to exceed performance of current codes and include solar-ready, EV-ready, and passive solar considerations. Teams that score the highest on a range of metrics (e.g., energy use, affordability) will receive a flat fee of $15,000 per plan. The availability of free construction plans using these housing types will help expand housing capacity, reduce monthly utility expenses for residents, and generate more affordable, accessible housing for residents. Ultimately, this program will give city residents and builders 18 permit-ready home plans to use at no cost. Second, Oklahoma City will develop a new EV infrastructure strategic plan. (Award amount: $612,250)

Pinal County, AZ will purchase and install nine pay-as-you-go EV charging stations throughout the City of Casa Grande and Pinal County. These charging stations will increase access to EV charging infrastructure in rural communities. The project will follow key steps from Blueprint 4B: EV Charging Infrastructure for the Community to advance the State's Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plan, which supports the expansion of alternative fuel corridors. (Award amount: $273,780)

Town of Mount Pleasant, SC aims to enhance sustainable transportation options by installing four wide bike lanes. This initiative will support the Net Zero Mount Pleasant Plan, currently under development, to reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. (Award Amount: $142,750)

Town of Rye, NY purchased an electric truck, EV charging station, and electric snow blower with portable charging stations. Electrifying these pieces of equipment will allow the town to maintain its public parks while reducing municipal emissions. (Award amount: $72,256)

Other awards announced today include:  

Territories:

• American Samoa ($1,550,030)

City Governments:

• Bakersfield, CA ($379,310)
• Binghampton, NY ($76,690)
• Carlsbad, NM ($76,110)
• Charter Township of Orion, MI ($76,233)
• Citrus Heights, CA ($137,060)
• Conroe, TX ($145,460)
• Dallas, TX ($1,132,070)
• El Cajon, CA ($155,020)
• El Paso, TX ($595,490)
• Fontana, CA ($230,640)
• Fullerton, CA ($183,850)
• Glendale, AZ ($259,960)
• Greenacres, FL ($76,380)
• Gurabo, PR ($76,400)
• Hollywood, FL ($191,390)
• Mentor, OH ($76,760)
• Millcreek, UT ($121,210)
• Milton, GA ($76,350)
• Mishawaka, IN ($115,070)
• Reading, PA ($145,490)
• Redwood City, CA ($142,550)
• Riverside, CA ($325,070)
• Rochester, MN ($172,870)
• Salem, OR ($214,750)
• San Bruno, CA ($76,430)
• Sheboygan, WI ($76,730)
• Suffolk, VA ($144,950)
• Texarkana, TX ($76,440)
• Titusville, FL ($76,680)
• Town of Hudson, NH ($73,526)
• Wilmington, NC ($172,690)
• Winter Garden, FL ($76,560)

County Governments:

• Bergen County, NJ ($695,630)
• Berks County, PA ($324,850)
• Cass County, ND ($75,660)
• Clay County, SD ($75,500)
• Fresno County, CA ($336,680)
• Genesee County, MI ($283,080)
• Gloucester County, NJ ($234,830)
• Hillsborough County, FL ($831,960)
• Honolulu County, HI ($844,500)
• Lancaster County, PA ($411,780)
• Monmouth County, NJ ($380,600)
• Okaloosa County, FL ($238,090)
• Riverside County, CA ($477,090)
• St. Clair County, MI ($80,370)

View the complete list of projects to date on our website.

DOE offers extensive technical assistance to support EECBG Program grantees, including Blueprints and Blueprint Cohorts. Blueprints provide thirteen guides to implementing eligible and high-impact clean energy and energy efficiency projects and programs. Blueprint Cohorts offer EECBG Program-eligible communities the opportunity to gain insights from industry experts and other participating peers.

The EECBG Program application deadline for state and local governments has passed. The deadline for eligible Tribal governments to apply is May 31, 2025. Tribes can apply for either traditional grants or vouchers for equipment rebates and/or technical assistance. They can also apply as a team or via a Tribal Consortia (in which a third-party entity can administer the grant). For more Tribal-specific information, visit the EECBG Program Comprehensive Guide for Indian Tribes Webpage.