By Nick Pope
The Biden administration announced Monday that it is routing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize “low-income solar programs” in some of America’s least-sunny places, where solar panels will produce little energy due to cloudy skies or weak sunlight.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the sixty applicants receiving a cumulative $7 billion from the agency’s “Solar for All” program, a list which includes government agencies or other entities located in some of America’s least-sunny states, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The funding comes from the EPA’s “Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund,” a program established by President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
For example, the Executive Office of the State of New Hampshire received more than $43.5 million, while the Vermont Department of Public Service is being awarded nearly $62.5 million and the Maine Governor’s Energy Office is taking home $62.1 from the EPA, according to the agency. The NREL’s National Solar Radiation Database Physical Solar Model shows that New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine receive some of the least solar radiation in the country. (RELATED: Dem Senator Pushes To Earmark More Than $1 Million For Solar Project In One Of The Least Sunny Places In The US)
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) National Solar Radiation Database Physical Solar Model. (Screenshot via NREL)
Meanwhile, the EPA is giving a whopping $249.8 million to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) as part of its push to boost solar use in “disadvantaged communities and low-income households.” The NREL’s map shows that New York state receives low levels of solar radiation relative to most other states in the county.
The Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority is receiving $156.1 million from the program, despite the fact that half of the state’s land area is classified by the NREL as being some of the least-sunny in the U.S. The EPA also awarded slightly more than $156.1 million to Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, but the NREL’s map shows that the state receives very little sunlight relative to most other parts of the country.
Elsewhere in the Great Lakes region, the EPA opted to give nearly $62.5 million to both the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin also receive less solar radiation than nearly every other state in the U.S., according to NREL’s map.
The Coalition for Green Capital, an entity with several politically-connected senior officials that recently cashed out on a related EPA program, also received nearly $62.5 million to fund residential solar in North Dakota, which sees comparable levels of solar radiation to those of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, according to NREL’s map.
The EPA did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
