Thursday May 30th – 2 PM ET
From the office to the farm, learn how your business can go solar & lower your energy bills!
The USDA is announcing $145 million in funding for 700 loan and grant awards through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) to help rural small business owners and farmers make energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy investments – could you or someone in your community benefit?
In this session of the grant of the month club, we talked about the incredible new funding opportunities through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) to help agricultural producers and rural small business owners make energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy investments to lower energy costs, generate new income, and strengthen the resiliency of their operations.
In the first hour of this event, we featured organizations helping small businesses and farmers access REAP funding, and learn about what type of projects can qualify for these loans and grant awards.
Speakers included:
- Jess Fritz, Program Director for Sustainable Energy at Rural Action
- Dana Vingris, Director of Grants and Development, Sustainable Ohio Public Energy Council
- Emily Little, EEI Regional Associate, Solar United Neighbors
- Emily Axel, SUN Go Solar Help Desk Specialist, Solar United Neighbors
- Leo Kowalski, Director of Transformation, PA Solar Center
- Moderated by: Tracy Sabetta of Initiative Consulting
In the second hour, we allowed time for networking and conversation from groups in the region who are applying, or considering applying for the REAP program.
You can watch the Zoom recording + transcript here
Shared Resources:
Ohio:
Jess Fritz, Program Director for Sustainable Energy at Rural Action, and Dana Vingris, Director of Grants and Development, Sustainable Ohio Public Energy Council, work primarily in Ohio to help groups go solar, they shared information about the resources they can provide to support groups interested in taking advantage of opportunities through REAP and other programs. For example, in Ohio, SOPEC also offers free solar assessments to farms and small businesses through the REDA program
Learn more about Rural Action’s work here. Learn about the SOPEC / Rural Action – REAP TAG program here: https://www.sopec-oh.gov/ohio-reap-program
Pennsylvania:
Leo Kowalski joined us from the PA Solar Center. They work to provide PA with an online resource hub as a source of unbiased education and information about solar as well as a qualified solar developer directory, solar project map, and solar jobs board, and also offer technical assistance to tax-exempt organizations and small businesses to go solar.
Contact: Leo Kowalski | pasolarcenter.org
West Virginia:
Our partners from West Virginia were not able to join us, but we wanted to share the contact information for Partner Community Capital Inc., which is another REAP Technical Assistance Grant recipient and a great place to start for West Virginia groups looking to see what REAP opportunities might work for them.
Contact: Maddie Coffman | Email: [email protected] | Website: partnercap.org
Virginia:
Thanks to Ryann Coles with Tiger Solar, one of the REAP Technical Assistant Grant recipients in Virginia, a great place for groups in Virginia looking to learn more: Contact: Ryann Coles| [email protected] | TigerSolar.com
Kentucky:
There are several programs available for Kentucky, including Mountain Association. Contact: Carrie Ray | [email protected] | mtassociation.org
USDA Resources to learn more about REAP
Speakers on the call mentioned that REAP programs can vary by state – so reaching out to your State Energy Coordinator through USDA is a great place to start – you can find them at this link.
For more info on how REAP applications are scored.
Find out if your property is eligible for REAP through this map.
Find a list of other REAP Technical Assistance Grant providers for your state at this USDA link.
Resources from Solar United Neighbors
Solar United Neighbors has experts in the region as well as nationally, and provided a number of links to help you learn how to get started with REAP.
REAP Rural Business Guide: here
Rural Business Guide in Spanish: here
Free Roof Review: here
Go Solar Guide: here
For more REAP success stories: here
How do nonprofits take advantage of the tax credits if they are tax exempt?
Earlier this month, ReImagine Appalachia hosted a webinar about direct pay / nonprofit incentives. You can find the recording and presentations at this link: https://reimagineappalachia.org/grant-of-the-month-direct-pay/. You may also find this factsheet helpful, or this overview from Clean Energy Group.
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.