On April 4, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its selections for $20 billion in grant awards under two competitions within the historic $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which was created under the Inflation Reduction Act as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
One of the main objectives of the fund is to create a national clean financing network for clean energy and climate solutions across sectors, ensuring communities have access to the capital they need to participate in and benefit from a cleaner, more sustainable economy.
For owners of affordable housing properties, this network of financing potentially provides access to much needed capital to make improvements that can make properties greener while potentially reducing operating costs.
According to a press release from the EPA, this national clean financing network will mobilize private capital to reduce climate and air pollution while also reducing energy costs, improving public health, and creating good-paying clean energy jobs in communities across the country, especially in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
To date, the EPA says, the eight selected applicants have supported thousands of individuals, businesses, and community organizations to access capital for climate and clean energy projects.
“These awards are making clean energy financing accessible to low-income and underserved communities that have for far too long carried the brunt of environmental pollution, helping us attack the climate crisis head on and creating jobs while lowering energy costs,” Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingle told the EPA. “These investments will fund projects that otherwise would not have been possible and will mobilize nearly seven times as much in private capital. I’m proud to have helped author and pass the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and look forward to continuing to invest in the most impactful and urgent projects to reach our climate and environmental justice goals.”
Who Are Receiving These Awards?
Information on the awardees:
- Opportunity Finance Network ($2.29 billion award), a 40-year-old nonprofit CDFI Intermediary that provides capital and capacity building for a national network of 400+ community lenders — predominantly U.S. Treasury-certified CDFI Loan Funds. Read Opportunity Finance Network’s application details.
- Inclusiv ($1.87 billion award), a 50-year-old nonprofit CDFI Intermediary that provides capital and capacity building for a national network of 900+ mission-driven, regulated credit unions. Read Inclusiv’s application details.
- Justice Climate Fund ($940 million award), a purpose-built nonprofit supported by an existing ecosystem of coalition members, a national network of more than 1,200 community lenders, and ImpactAssets—an experienced nonprofit with $3 billion under management—to provide responsible, clean energy-focused capital and capacity building to community lenders across the country. Read Justice Climate Fund’s application details.
- Appalachian Community Capital ($500 million award), a nonprofit CDFI with a decade of experience working with community lenders in Appalachian communities, which is launching the Green Bank for Rural America to deliver clean capital and capacity building assistance to hundreds of community lenders working in coal, energy, underserved rural, and Tribal communities across the United States. Read Appalachian Community Capital’s application details.
- Native CDFI Network ($400 million award), a nonprofit that serves as national voice and advocate for the 60+ U.S. Treasury-certified Native CDFIs, which have a presence in 27 states across rural reservation communities as well as urban communities and have a mission to address capital access challenges in Native communities. Read Native CDFI Network’s application details.
- Climate United Fund ($6.97 billion award), a nonprofit formed by Calvert Impact to partner with two U.S. Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Self-Help Ventures Fund and Community Preservation Corporation. Together, these three nonprofit financial institutions bring a decades-long track record of successfully raising and deploying $30 billion in capital with a focus on low-income and disadvantaged communities. Read Climate Action Fund’s application details.
- Coalition for Green Capital ($5 billion award), a nonprofit with almost 15 years of experience helping establish and work with dozens of state, local, and nonprofit green banks that have already catalyzed $20 billion into qualified projects—and that have a pipeline of $30 billion of demand for green bank capital that could be coupled with more than twice that in private investment. Read Coalition for Green Capital’s application details.
- Power Forward Communities ($2 billion award), a nonprofit coalition formed by five of the country’s most trusted housing, climate, and community investment groups that is dedicated to decarbonizing and transforming American housing to save homeowners and renters money, reinvest in communities, and tackle the climate crisis. Read Power Forward Communities’ application details.
