This article was published in partnership with the Energy News Network, a nonprofit news site dedicated to keeping influencers, policymakers, and citizens informed about the important changes taking place in the clean energy transition.
Growth Opportunity Partners is the lead applicant in 20 counties seeking FRA funds under the EPA’s Solar for All program.
A green bank in Cleveland, Ohio, is leading a multi-state effort to secure $7 billion in financing for low-income residential solar installations under the federal Inflation Reduction Act.
Growth Opportunity Partners, a community development firm focused on underserved low- and moderate-income communities in Ohio, is leading an application from about 20 counties in seven states that collectively seek $250 million to help low-income residents access… solar energy. She manages the GO Green Energy Fund, the country’s first Black-led green bank program.
Growth Opps CEO Michael Gaines recently spoke with Energy News Network about how GO Green Energy fits into the nonprofit’s broader mission to help underserved communities.
What does Growth Opps do, and how does the Go Green Energy Fund fit into its mission?
Through advisory and capital services, Growth Opps “provides financial solutions in underinvested and underserved communities,” Gaines said. As Growth Ops worked in those urban and rural communities in Ohio, he and his colleagues saw that people’s health and well-being were a major concern.
Conversations with health executives, foundations and others gave rise to the concept of the GO Green Energy Fund as a way to address some of the causes of health problems at the community level, rather than on a case-by-case basis.
“We may be able, at a systems level, to provide access for those who want to see a better life for themselves, who want to see cleaner communities,” Gaines said.
How do Growth Opps and its Go Green Energy Fund fit into the financing opportunities provided by the Inflation Act?
Growth Opps was founded in 2015, and the GO Green Energy Fund was started in 2020 — two years before Congress passed the Inflation Control Act. Among other things, the law authorizes the EPA to implement the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which the EPA says is intended to mobilize “financing and private capital for projects to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution in communities across the country.” “
“Fortunately for us, there is a natural alignment,” Gaines said.
What is the Growth Ops-led coalition, and what does it seek to achieve?
“We are the Heartland Solar Alliance,” Gaines said. “It’s a regional, county-by-county focus across multiple states and an opportunity to bring equity to the process.”
Growth Opportunity Partners is the main applicant. Alliance members include nearly 20 counties and their communities in Ohio and states from Missouri, Indiana and Michigan to parts of Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia. The group’s members in Ohio are Cuyahoga, Summit, Franklin, Hamilton and Montgomery counties, which includes the cities of Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton.
The coalition hopes to secure $250 million under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund’s $7 billion Solar for All category, which aims to address barriers to participation by underserved communities in distributed solar generation.
“These dollars need to be catalytic. This is an initial investment for this work, meaning the funding is intended to catalyze additional financing from other sources, including capital markets, corporations, philanthropies and other sources,” Gaines said. Otherwise, “we will be shortchanging our capital.” “The money is from the effort it will take.”
The group hopes to hear back from the EPA sometime in the winter, with the money potentially starting to flow in July, Gaines said. But with turmoil in Congress, those goals may move.
If IRA funding comes in, will the plans only provide solar panels?
“There are other things that come with that,” including whether rooftops are ready for solar, Gaines said. Also, “With the rest of our legacy business at Growth Opps, are there other things we should consider? Should we look at appliances for upgrades? Weatherization to further save money? There are incentives and discounts available at the household level.”
What impacts do you expect the financing to have, beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions?
“If we can get (distributed solar) to homes that have high energy burdens — meaning a lot of their paychecks will pay for utilities — we can make big impacts here,” Gaines said.
Work can provide employment benefits for people in disadvantaged communities as well. “We are positioned to add skills, increase income, and increase opportunities while cleaning up the environment for our families and neighbors,” Gaines said.
What are some of the challenges you have faced in your work?
“There is a level of trust that has to be gained,” Gaines said. “When places are not invested in and people are not invested in, it is hard to believe that the next knock on the door is a welcome one.”
Gaining that trust requires caring about people and listening to them about their needs and life experiences, Gaines said. “We know these people. We know a lot of the occupants of these communities. We have a diverse team, and we grew up in many of these communities.”
“The second hurdle is: things have a price. When you get to the market earlier, the cost is higher,” said Jeans. For him, that’s why the financing opportunities provided by the inflation-reducing act are so important — to fill gaps and act as a catalyst for market creation.
Why does timing matter?
“This is a crucial contract for us,” Jeans said. “We need to cut emissions and start the transition by 2030.”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported last year that global greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by 43% by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Global greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 to limit temperature rise to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius. The world is already suffering from the effects of climate change, but reducing emissions can help avoid the worst consequences.
How do you measure success?
Financing under the ACA will require reporting to EPA or other agencies. Grants to nonprofits like Growth Opps generally require reports on how the funds are used. However, for Jeans, success is about more than just reporting.
“Our impact is our measure,” he said. “The way we measure great return on investment is how we measure great return on investment.”
