Cities Grapple for ‘Magic Formula’ to Access Billions in Energy Funds
An unprecedented $538 billion promises to help the neediest communities transition to clean energy. But local officials say they’re ill-equipped to navigate the federal funding maze.
Solar panels atop the Pennsylvania Avenue Resource Center, a city building in Savannah, were installed using solar trainees from a workforce training program.
Courtesy of City of Savannah
Alicia Brown steered a city-owned electric Nissan Leaf through communities hemmed in by chemical plants, paper mills, and the constant rail and truck traffic that feeds one of the nation’s busiest seaports, in Savannah, Georgia.
The city’s clean-energy program manager said she sees opportunity for Savannah neighborhoods like Hudson Hill, made up of former sharecropper housing, thanks to unprecedented federal money newly available to pay for home energy efficiency updates, rooftop solar installations, electric buses, and EV charging stations.