The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $20 billion in grant awards April 4 to eight nonprofit groups to finance climate and clean energy projects. Rather than directly funding projects, officials say the grants create a new network of financing for tens of thousands of future projects that would reduce carbon emissions, with a focus on low-income and disadvantaged communities.
The money comes from two programs under the $27-billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was created through 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act. Three grants worth a combined $14 billion were awarded through the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) for nonprofits to establish financing institutions to fund clean technology projects nationally by partnering with private investors, developers and community organizations. Five other grants totaling $6 billion were awarded through the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA) to create hubs providing both funding and technical assistance for projects like distributed energy, net-zero buildings and zero-emissions transportation projects.