Tarrant County expects to receive $7 million in federal funds to support solar energy projects — or about 2.8% of the $250 million awarded to a coalition of urban Texas cities and counties earlier this year.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All program awarded $7 billion to 60 applicants across the country, including the coalition. Funds will provide solar energy to low-income and disadvantaged communities across the state. About 900,000 households nationwide will save over $350 million on their electric bills as a result of the investment, according to EPA estimates.
However, it was unclear how much Tarrant County would receive, as the county is considered a sub-applicant rather than a full coalition member.
Because commissioners initially voted against joining the coalition in July last year, the county narrowly missed the deadline to notify the EPA of its intention to apply for funds. Commissioners voted last August to join the coalition, which included Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and border counties.
Nathan Smith, the policy coordinator for Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, said the county believes it will receive around $7 million, although talks and negotiations are still ongoing. The final dollar amount could change, he said.
Although exact numbers on what other counties will receive is currently unknown, United Way of Tarrant County CEO Leah King told the Report that Dallas and Houston are expected to receive a good chunk of the funds. Factors like how much work is already being done in energy efficiency and solar, the number of disadvantaged households, and population size are driving the larger funding amounts for those areas, King said.
“It’s population size, not just one county is better than another,” King said. “It has more to do with how much work you’ve already been doing (with solar) in this area, and there are some counties that are further ahead than we are in Tarrant County in terms of doing these types of community-based initiatives, specifically around either solar or energy efficiency.”
King told commissioners last summer that her organization was prepared to help dispense grant funds and oversee management of the program. She recently told the Report that solar projects in Tarrant County are currently being workshopped, but the main focus is on households that King and the county define as ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
“These are people who are working hard but still falling short on a month-to-month basis,” King said. “We want to find ways to help them to decrease the amount they have to spend each month on their energy costs.”
Smith said these future solar projects have the potential to double their impact for residents through federal solar tax credits, giving residents with installed solar panels a 30% tax credit. A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the amount of income tax an individual would otherwise owe, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
In addition to the financial benefits, investment in solar has a positive environmental impact, King said.
“This is an opportunity for us to be part of that overall reduction in greenhouse gases,” King said. “Our opportunity to diversify the types of energy resources that our community benefits from is the right answer. Having all of our eggs in one basket is not necessarily the best way to go in anything that people do from day to day.”
Kevin Vu is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and contributor to the Fort Worth Report.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.