Thursday, May 9th from 12:30- 2:30 PM ET
Nonprofits, faith organizations, state and local government agencies, school districts and more can get money for free (when switching to clean energy)!
ReImagine Appalachia’s Faith-in-Action Team sponsored May’s Grant of the Month Club Office Hours on how the IRS can help your nonprofit get paid to implement clean energy upgrades. This process is known interchangeably as “Direct Pay” or “Elective Pay.”
Amy Turner, Director of the Cities Climate Law Initiative at Columbia University’s Sabin Center and Associate Research Scholar at Columbia Law School, joined us as we dove into the nuts and bolts of Direct Pay. We will also were joined by Katie Ruth, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light, who shared their experience around community movement toward buy-ins, opening a larger discussion around first steps, getting your paperwork together, and other financing options available.
Additional Resources:
- This handout summarizes Katie Ruth’s talking points during the event. This is an incredible resource for you to refer to when thinking about how your community can get started, community buy-ins, energy audits, and resources for congregations such as the Energy Star for Congregations Workbook, a FREE portfolio manager, and Cool Congregations! The PDF of the handout is attached to the end of this email.
- Interfaith Power & Light’s Cool Congregations is a resource that has information to help your congregation reduce emissions and even become a Cool Congregation. Resources include start-up kits, a Congregation Calculator, a Household Calculator, and more!
- Many denominational bodies have loan or grant programs for improving congregational facilities! Click here to learn more about additional funding options for solar on Houses of Worship identified by Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light.
- Blue Green Alliance’s Investments in Energy Communities Map– this is a tool that can help you to identify where energy communities are located in the United States, as well as the communities that are eligible to benefit from the energy communities bonus credit and other targeted provisions in the IRA.
- The US Department of Energy also has a map that can help you identify energy communities that qualify for the Energy Community Tax Credit Bonus.
- Use this IRS website to register for Elective Payment (aka Direct Pay) or transfer of credits. This website also provides information such as what you need, who qualifies, tailored information for first time and returning users, and more.
- For people located in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the SWPA Hub can help entities, specifically local governments, navigate this process. Learn more about the SWPA Hub here.
- The Heinz Endowments, along with What Works Plus Collaborative (WW+) and The Pittsburgh Foundation, have a resource guide that covers some of the stacking potential of these credits with other federal funding sources.
- If you are interested in using a Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, you can do so here. This map shows census tracts that have been identified as overburdened and underserved. The map highlights these census tracts as disadvantaged.
- Click here to view the US Department of Energy’s vehicle charging map. This tool can be used as a 30C Tax Credit Eligibility Locator.
- PAPowerSwitch can be used to help you find electricity rates and compare electricity plans based on your PA zip code.
This event is part of the ReImagine Appalachia Grant of the Month Club Series, an ongoing series which aims to share information on a funding streams and resources that we believe are of particular interest to rural communities, communities facing energy transition or deindustrialization, historically disinvested communities, and/or Appalachian communities.