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The Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization hosted a virtual workshop today to guide energy community leaders through its new online clearinghouse tool that curates relevant opportunities from across the federal government in one easy-to-access location.
This free, digital database of federal funding opportunities currently houses over 60 opportunities and allows coal, oil and gas, and power plant community leaders to find and filter funding based on their communities’ specific needs and eligibility criteria.
“Billions of dollars are available each year to energy communities through federal agency programs, but it can be a challenge for communities to find these opportunities. Our free clearinghouse acts as a one-stop-shop and breaks down barriers to accessing federal funding,” said IWG Executive Director Brian Anderson, PhD. “IWG is committed to making it as easy as possible for energy communities to find the critical funding they need to revitalize their economies and the clearinghouse is a step in that direction.”
Federal agency representatives from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture provided an overview of the more than 60 open and planned funding opportunities featured on the clearinghouse worth more than $46 billion. Twenty-one of these opportunities do not require a grant match. The webinar also included a sneak-peak of opportunities to come and guidance on effectively using the clearinghouse’s filter function to search based on funding status, funding type, program purpose and eligibility criteria.
“Today’s webinar fostered continued conversation and engagement between energy communities and federal agencies and educated local leaders on this important online tool that can greatly benefit their communities. We hope to see more communities accessing and using this tool in the coming days, weeks, and months,” said Anderson.
The clearinghouse debuted following the passing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) in November 2021, which is expected to bring about an abundance of funding announcements related to energy communities in the coming months. Energy community leaders will be able to find and learn about those funding opportunities on the clearinghouse.
The webinar recording, presentation slides, and final agenda can be found here.
Established by an Executive Order during President Biden’s first week in office, the IWG is pursuing a whole-of-government approach to create good-paying union jobs, spur economic revitalization, remediate environmental degradation and support energy workers in coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities across the country as the U.S. prepares to undergo a historic energy evolution to a carbon emission-free electricity sector by 2035 and economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050.