More Than $7 Million to Bolster Clean Domestic Manufacturing in USA & Support Small-and Medium-Sized Businesses – CleanTechnica

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Funding from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda Supports 37 New Small-and Medium-sized Manufacturers to Improve Energy Efficiency, Lower Costs, Increase Productivity, and Reduce Industrial Emissions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced more than $7.3 million from the Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) Implementation Grants program for 37 small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) across the country to make improvements at their facilities to save energy, reduce climate pollution, and strengthen our domestic manufacturing sector. DOE also announced that the IAC program is open for additional applications, ensuring SMMs can continue to apply for grants throughout the next year. Supported by President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by DOE’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains Office (MESC), the IAC Implementation Grants program provides up to $300,000 per manufacturer per funding round to implement recommendations made by DOE and other qualified energy assessments. The projects are expected to abate about 17,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, equivalent to about 70 small businesses’ annual emissions. Today’s announcements reinforce the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to revitalize American manufacturing, create good-paying jobs in communities across the nation, advance energy and environmental justice through the President’s Justice40 Initiative, and meet the President’s ambitious goal of a net-zero economy by 2050.

“The clean energy transition presents a world of new opportunities for the American workforce,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The Biden-Harris Administration is training the next generation of workers to enable small-and-medium sized manufacturers to increase their energy efficiency all while lowering costs and reducing emissions.”

These investments in clean domestic manufacturing present a vital opportunity to transform industrial systems to support clean air, increased manufacturing competitiveness, and good-paying union jobs in industrial communities while advancing President Biden’s ambitious climate strategy. The grants announced today will help SMMs, which comprise more than 90% of the nation’s manufacturing base, leverage federal support and local expertise to identify cost-effective opportunities to improve energy efficiency, increase competitiveness, and reduce emissions.

For more than four decades, the IAC Program, managed by MESC, has provided more than 21,000 energy assessments at SMMs and typically identify more than $150,000 in potential annual energy savings opportunities for every manufacturer.

This round of 37 implementation grants will be supported by $7.3 million in grant funding that will be matched by almost $20 million in industry investment. The grants support a wide variety of projects, including onsite solar, battery storage technology, and waste heat recovery system installations; improvements for lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; electrifying industrial equipment and fleets; and more. Fourteen projects will benefit disadvantaged communities by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and non-greenhouse gas co-pollutants and supporting local jobs, underscoring President Biden’s commitment to ensure that the communities most in need are able to benefit from the transition to a clean energy future.  This program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of Federal climate, clean energy, and other covered investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, 115 businesses across 34 states have been selected to receive a combined total of more than $17 million through the IAC program to implement energy saving improvements, matched by almost $40 million in industry investment. These improvements are expected to save $11.3 million in annual energy savings and abate about 27,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE, its partnership intermediary ENERGYWERX, and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE and ENERGYWERX may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.

Learn more about the grants here.

Grant Funding Opportunity Open for Year-Round Applications

The IAC Implementation Grants funding opportunity is a rolling opportunity that is currently open with a total initial funding envelope of $80 million. Eligible SMMs may submit applications for implementation grants at any time throughout the next year (as funds are available) and DOE will review quarterly. The current round application deadline is July 1, 2024. Applications will immediately reopen on July 2, 2024, for both manufacturers seeking grants and assessment providers seeking qualification as “IAC-equivalent” with a following deadline of October 1, 2024. To learn more about the application process and to apply, click here.

Starting July 1^st, 2024, the IAC Implementation Grants funding opportunity allows for eligible SMMs to receive a up to $300,000 of grant funding per project, rather than per entity. Multiple grants per quarter per entity are allowable, provided each grant is dedicated solely to a unique project from a qualifying assessment. Eligible SMMs that have already received $300,000 in past funding rounds are eligible to apply for additional grant funding to implement eligible new projects. (Note: for SMMs who apply for an award that puts them over $300,000 of total grant funding, the new application must focus solely on assessment recommendations that have not been the focus in previous awards.)

The IAC Program team will continue holding monthly “office hour” sessions to answer questions about the implementation grant program and application. To register for the next session, which will be held on July 11, 2024, from 1:00-2:00 pm EST, please click here.

Click here to inquire about receiving a no-cost IAC assessment, here for more information on receiving a CHP/Onsite Energy TAP assessment, and here to learn more about qualified third-party assessors. MESC is working with ENERGYWERX to execute the IAC Implementation Grant program. DOE is working with ENERGYWERX in a collaboration made possible through an innovative Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) set up by the DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT). This agreement enables ENERGYWERX to broaden DOE’s engagement with innovative organizations and non-traditional partners, facilitating the rapid development, scaling, and deployment of clean energy solutions.

Learn more about the MESC mission to strengthen and secure manufacturing and energy supply chains needed to modernize the nation’s energy infrastructure and support a clean and equitable energy transition.

Courtesy of Department of Energy.