After Labor Day, state, local, Tribal, and territory governments funded by EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program will assemble in Minneapolis, Minnesota for a three-day workshop on the next major stage of the program – developing Comprehensive Climate Action Plans (CCAPs). Earlier this summer in July, EPA announced that 25 applications were selected to receive more than $4.3 billion in CPRG grants “to implement community-driven solutions to the climate crisis, reduce air pollution, advance environmental justice, and accelerate America’s clean energy transition.”1 Major funding awards spanned each of the targeted GHG sectors: Agriculture and Natural and Working Lands; Buildings; Electric Power; Industry; Transportation; and Waste and Material Management.
A few major CPRG implementation grants include:
- $450M for the New England Heat Pump Accelerator, a coalition of five NE states aiming to rapidly accelerate the adoption of cold-climate air-source heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and ground-source heat pumps in homes
- $200M for a zero-emission building initiative in the Denver metro area
- $250M for the four-state Clean Corridor Coalition to deploy EV charging infrastructure for commercial zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles traveling along the I-95 freight corridor and adjacent roadways from CT to MD
- $500M for the INVEST CLEAN project to decarbonize the Southern California goods movement corridor in LA and Long Beach
- $430M for State of Illinois’ application to support achieving its Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) and 100% carbon-free power by 2045
On the minds of many as they ready to convene in Minneapolis are not only how to fulfill the EPA’s requirements of their CCAPs, but where to find the additional funding opportunities that can turn ambitious climate plans into action. E3 is supporting a number of states and cities through the CPRG program with rigorous analysis and expertise on how to develop actionable economy-wide decarbonization policies that align near-term measures and programs with long-term goals. This planning approach requires a nuanced understanding of factors like customer adoption behavior and technological advancements, as well as the integration of comprehensive long-term modeling tools with bottom-up assessments of short-term priority measures.
E3’s long-term climate pathways modeling tool – PATHWAYS – has been critical for many state agencies and local governments, including those in California, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois and Colorado, to define near-term priorities and portfolios that align with long-term goals. In addition to using PATHWAYS to project long-term GHG emissions, E3 has worked together with state agencies and local governments to assess measure-specific impacts of near-term emissions reductions priorities using a more tailored approach that is consistent with long-term projections and goals.
We are excited to see the level of commitment at federal, state, regional and local level towards actionable climate planning. We look forward to collaborating with state agencies and local governments to develop tailored and consistent approaches to integrate top-down modeling with bottom-up measure analysis. For more information on our offerings, please contact Tory Clark, Partner or Zak Suttile, Director.
- https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/cprg-implementation-grants-general-competition-selections ↩︎
