Thursday, August 1, 2024 at 2PM ET via Zoom
Thursday, August 1st from 2-4 PM ET ReImagine Appalachia and The Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization (Energy Communities IWG) shared resources the working group provides and how your community may benefit!
The Energy Communities IWG is pursuing a whole-of-government approach to create good-paying jobs, spur economic revitalization, remediate environmental degradation and support energy workers in coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities across the country.
At this event, Briggs White, Ph.D. Deputy Executive Director of the IWG on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization and other speakers highlighted resources offered to help local communities, government, and other economic development groups in the region.
Topics included the funding clearinghouse, an online database of federal funding opportunities relevant to coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities across the country; as well as the Getting Started Guide, a step-by-step guide intended to help communities and workers start the process of planning or responding to economic and social changes resulting from the energy transition or any major economic shift.
You may also be interested in these two upcoming events!
Not a Silver Bullet: Strategies to Help Ensure Impactful Community Benefits Register:
Thursday, August 8th at 11 AM ET via Zoom, we’ll hear from Marisa Sotolongo and Annabel Shu with the Initiative for Energy Justice (IEJ). Marisa and Annabel will discuss IEJ’s recent white paper, Community Benefits Policy and Energy Justice, which explores how local, state, and federal policies can redirect the benefits of energy infrastructure investments to underserved and overburdened communities.
ReImagine Appalachia Grant of the Month Club Presents: Appalachian Regional Commission. Register:
Join ReImagine Appalachia and The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Thursday, August 29, 2024 from 11-1 PM ET virtually for an overview of funding and other functionalities offered by this agency.
Thursday, August 1st from 2-4 PM ET ReImagine Appalachia and The Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization (Energy Communities IWG) shared resources the working group provides and how your community may benefit. Watch event recording here. You can find a link to the presentation here.
The Energy Communities IWG is pursuing a whole-of-government approach to create good-paying jobs, spur economic revitalization, remediate environmental degradation and support energy workers in coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities across the country.
At this event, Jon Grosshans of the US EPA highlighted resources offered to support energy communities nationwide. You can find an incredible array of tools at EnergyCommunities.gov.
Some of the resources you’ll find there include:
- Energy Community Tax Credit Bonus Support Energy Communities Tax Credit bonus map and FAQs
- Getting Started Guide This is a step-by-step guide intended to help communities and workers start the process of planning or responding to economic and social changes resulting from the energy transition or any major economic shift.
- The IWG Newsletter– Scroll down to the bottom of this site to “Get Updates” to sign up
Key links shared in the chat and conversation takeaways:
Energy Communities AmeriCorps Program
There was some discussion of the new Americorps VISTA Energy Communities program. We discussed that this unique VISTA program will pay a slightly higher hourly wage ($15.51) than current standard VISTA programs. (Apply here). An overview of the Energy Communities AmeriCorps Program can be found on the IWG website.
Technical Assistance Resources mentioned:
- Pennsylvania partners were encouraged to check out the Southwest PA Project Hub: https://www.swpahub.org/ They support nonprofits and community organizations.
- The Appalachian Regional Commission has many grants and technical assistance opportunities. Starting with your local development districts is a great idea if you haven’t worked with ARC in the past.
- Technical Assistance Support: Expert Match—free, short-term technical assistance to address near-term clean energy challenges and questions from NREL.
- Technical Assistance Support: Water Infrastructure from the EPA.
- Technical Assistance for Brownfields Projects from TAB
- More information on brownfield including technical assistance can be found here from the EPA
Direct Pay (aka Elective Pay) Resources
Direct pay, aka elective pay, allows non-taxable entities to benefit from tax breaks. This process can create administrative burden on smaller organizations, but this new tool was highly recommended from many partners! Clean Energy Tax Navigator from Lawyers for Good Government
Community Change Grants and Grant technical assistance
There is still a little more time to apply for the EPA Community Change grant. Technically those grants are due in November, but they are already being awarded, and requests for technical assistance for this grant from the EPA are due next week. Our partners at EPN also offer Technical Assistance for this grant.
Keep your eye on the Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program, which is a funding opportunity that will open in September and October (depending on your region) and should be a good fit for Appalachian community led projects.
This event was 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.