(Reuters) – The Biden administration on Tuesday said it would spend $366 million to fund 17 clean energy projects in rural and remote areas of the U.S. to boost reliability and ease high electricity bills.
The funding, created by the 2021 infrastructure law, is aligned with the administration’s goal to direct 40% of the benefits of climate-related investments to communities that are underserved or have been overburdened by pollution.
Remote and rural communities are often isolated from electrical grids, leading to higher bills and less reliable or nonexistent energy supplies, the administration said.
“These projects overall are going to create more affordable more reliable energy sources, they will lower families’ energy bills, and they’ll create good paying jobs in their communities,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on a call with reporters. “And that is the promise this President sees in clean energy.”
The projects, funded through the U.S. Department of Energy, will bring clean energy technologies including solar, heat pumps and EV charging infrastructure, to communities across 20 states.
At least 12 of the 17 projects will serve tribes, the DOE said, noting that many Native American homes do not have electricity.
Selected projects will undergo a negotiation process with DOE before thee awards are finalized.
The projects selected include the CHARGE Partnership, which will develop solar and storage microgrids to support rural community health centers in eight southeastern states and the Chignik Hydroelectric Dam and Water Source Project, which will renovate a decades-old leaking dam in Chignik Bay, Alaska, replacing the community’s diesel consumption.
Another project will electrify 300 rural Hopi and Navajo tribal homes in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah with off-grid solar and storage systems.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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