Maine "Solar for All" program proposed for EPA funding

The Maine Governor's Energy Office has applied to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for $99.5 million to establish statewide "Solar for All" programs for Maine. If selected for funding by EPA, the programs could create new incentives for residential solar development in Maine with a focus on low-income and disadvantaged communities.

The Inflation Reduction Act allocated $7 billion to the EPA, to fund a system of competitive grants to states and other entities to establish or expand "Solar for All" programs that support deployment of solar and energy storage to benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities. Implemented as part of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), the EPA program will award up to 60 grants to states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities, and eligible nonprofits to create and expand low-income solar programs that provide financing and technical assistance, such as workforce development, to enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from residential solar.

According to EPA, the Solar for All program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, a program seeking to allocate 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. EPA also cites the program as supporting the administration's goal of achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.

In Maine's proposal, the state energy office proposed three new programs:  

• New incentives for residential rooftop solar and energy storage serving affordable multifamily housing and single-family homes of low-income households and those located in Federally-defined disadvantaged communities in Maine, to minimize financial barriers to rooftop solar benefits; 
• New technical and financial assistance to support cooperatively-owned community solar enabling households, resident-owned communities, Tribal communities, and community-based organizations, to participate in solar energy ownership without barriers of homeownership or rooftop suitability; and 
• A new community solar and energy storage program focused on serving low-income and disadvantaged households, utilizing competitive bidding and aligning with existing energy assistance programs to minimize costs and maximize benefits delivered directly to households through lower electricity bills while building energy resilience.

According to the energy office, full funding by EPA of Maine’s Solar for All proposal "will enable an estimated 38,000 low-income and disadvantaged households to access solar by supporting rooftop projects on owner-occupied and rental residences across the state, as well as cost-effective community solar to enable energy savings for low-income households." 

Applications by states and others were due to EPA this past fall. Announcements of awards could be made as early as March 2024, with EPA anticipating beginning to make awards in July 2024. The Inflation Reduction Act requires EPA to award all Solar for All funds by September 30, 2024.