$62 million federal grant is expected to usher in new era of solar power use across Nebraska

(Getty Images)

LINCOLN — A $62 million federal grant awarded Monday to a Nebraska nonprofit is expected to launch a new era of solar energy use across the state, making it more accessible and affordable to a wider audience.

The “Solar for All” grant, on a practical level, is to install power systems for more than 9,000 historically disadvantaged Nebraska households that stand to save at least 20% in monthly utilities costs.

A community solar project in Norfolk celebrated its completion in June 2022. (Courtesy of the Center for Rural Affairs)

The funds are designed to create jobs, reduce pollution and increase the amount of deployed solar energy in the state by more than 60% over the five-year grant period, said Brian Depew, executive director of the Lyons-based Center for Rural Affairs, which won the award.

But more importantly in the long run, Depew said, the grant should build momentum in a state that has been slower than many others to jump on the solar energy train. Part of that, he said, is because Nebraska enjoys relatively cheap power.

“It’s exciting,” said Depew. “We are just at the vanguard of solar in Nebraska, and this can be part of building our solar industry in a way that goes beyond the folks we’ll be able to serve through this project.”

$7 billion nationally

Coinciding with Earth Day, the Biden administration announced the Center for Rural Affairs as one of 60 awardees poised to share $7 billion in Solar for All grants aimed at delivering residential solar power to historically disadvantaged populations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency described the Nebraska project as the state’s first to ensure that low-income and disadvantaged households in the state have equitable access to solar power. 

“The program will serve the entire state, resulting in immediate greenhouse gas reductions, immediate savings for low-income households, opportunities for ownership and will lead to long-term market transformation of residential serving solar,” said the application award.

The competitive grant process is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, which created the EPA’s  $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Nationally, the investment is to generate more than $350 million in annual savings on electric bills for “overburdened” households.

We are just at the vanguard of solar in Nebraska, and this can be part of building our solar industry in a way that goes beyond the folks we’ll be able to serve through this project.

– Brian Depew, Center for Rural Affairs

The federal contract is to be in place with the Center for Rural Affairs by September. The center said it is in the process of hiring a director and 10-member team to lead the effort that will reach into eligible rural, urban, suburban and tribal communities.

Additional workers will be needed, said Depew, to meet the demand for installation and maintenance in the five years and beyond.

The expectation, said Depew, is to reach more than 9,000 households and to deploy more than 60 megawatts of solar.

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Funding will provide for grants, subsidies, low-interest loans and technical support for three key areas:

• Community solar: Public utilities will partner with the grantee to develop residential-serving arrays that allow eligible customers to participate through subscriptions or by owning panels. Depew cited a recent Norfolk project as an model example where residents and ratepayers were able to buy subscriptions, or pay into the community solar program, and achieve savings. 

• Multifamily affordable housing solar: Apartment developers, both profit and nonprofit, can partner with the grantee to deploy solar for income-qualified multifamily housing units. 

• Rooftop solar: The grantee will help qualified households connect with technical service providers and solar installers.

Officials with the Center for Rural Affairs, founded in 1973 as a private, nonprofit that strengthens small business, family farms and ranches, said they met with more than 50 stakeholders — including utilities, state agencies, housing developers, tribes and community organizations — to develop the application.

Based in Lyons (population about 800), the center’s application was scored and selected after review by dozens of review panels and an interagency federal senior review team.

Depew said his team is eager to begin the process of showing disadvantaged Nebraska households how they can participate and benefit from conversion of sunlight into power.

“It’s not just about buying solar panels and putting them on roofs,” said Depew. “It’s about building the capacity of the industry and the service providers to build solar for low-income and historically excluded residents going forward.”

(Courtesy of Alexandra Beier/Getty Images)

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