NJBPU to Receive Over $156 Million from EPA to Provide Solar Power, Lower Energy Costs and Advance Environmental Justice Across New Jersey
Summary
This award is part of the historic $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was created under President Bidens Inflation Reduction Act to lower energy costs for families, create good-quality jobs in communities that have been left behind, advance environmental justice and tackle the climate crisis.The State of New Jersey, through NJBPU, has designed a program called New Jersey Solar for All to tackle the major barriers that have prevented the adoption of solar energy by low-income and disadvantaged households. The program will reduce 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions cumulatively, from over four gigawatts of solar energy capacity unlocked for low-income communities over five years. Solar and distributed energy resources help improve electric grid reliability and climate resilience, which is especially important in disadvantaged communities that have long been underserved.Solar for All will deliver on the Biden-Harris Administrations commitment to creating high-quality jobs with the free and fair choice to join a union for workers across the United States. All selected applicants intend to invest in local, clean energy workforce development programs to expand equitable pathways into family-sustaining jobs for the communities they are designed to serve. At least 35% of selected applicants have already engaged local or national unions, demonstrating how these programs will contribute to the foundation of a clean energy economy built on strong labor standards and inclusive economic opportunity for all American communities.The Solar for All program also advances President Bidens Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.