From the Seattle Times:
Washington state will receive more than $156 million to launch programs to provide rooftop solar and other forms of solar energy to people with lower incomes and on the front lines of climate change.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced a total of $7 billion in grants Monday from the agency’s Solar for All grant competition. The program is funded by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
In its grant application, the state Department of Commerce proposed to create several new programs, for single-family homeowners, community solar projects, multifamily affordable housing properties and tribal nations.
The state plans to further define eligibility requirements and launch its programs by summer 2025. The funds should be fully disbursed by 2029, according to the Commerce Department.
Under EPA rules, funding from the grant to the state is intended to serve low-income and disadvantaged communities. Disadvantaged communities are defined in the federal Climate and Economic Justice mapping tool; low-income is generally defined as households with incomes at or below the greater of 80% area median income and 200% of the federal poverty level, or properties providing affordable housing, according to the Commerce Department.
Standing in the sun-drenched courtyard of the Seattle Housing Authority’s Hinoki building Monday, Gov. Jay Inslee told The Seattle Times the infusion of federal cash was “heaven sent.”
Atop the 136-unit building were rows of solar panels, enough to power up about 10% to 15% of the building’s common areas and reduce the building’s operating costs. The community helped shape the design of the building, and one of the many values they identified was environmental stewardship, said Rod Brandon of the Seattle Housing Authority.
Washington residents who have received solar funding under previous state programs have shared stories of their electricity bills being reduced, and in some cases eliminated, Commerce Director Mike Fong said.
In addition to the installation of the panels, Fong said the money will help create jobs, workforce training programs like those at Northwest Indian College, and help Indigenous communities develop energy projects.
“We are punching above our weight class as a state in terms of securing federal funding,” Fong said. “And we’re going to do right by all Washingtonians.”
Read the Seattle Times' article "WA solar energy projects getting $156 million in federal funds," featuring the Seattle Housing Authority.