On March 4, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Office of Energy, the State Energy Office, announced a program aimed at funding energy efficiency assessments in residential properties located in environmental justice communities. The program, funded by the U.S. State Energy Program, enables public housing authorities, local governments, or nonprofit organizations to conduct audits of single-family or duplex properties in environmental justice communities to identify opportunities for energy savings as part of property renovations.
The Office of Energy created this program to help invest in environmental justice communities that have been disproportionately impacted by pollution and underinvestment. Eligible properties must be located in environmental justice communities and have residents that benefit from state or federal housing assistance programs. Eligible entities can apply for awards of $5,000 to $25,000 to conduct full-building assessments for potential energy efficiency savings. Eligible entities that have completed an assessment can then apply to Illinois EPA’s Energy Efficiency Trust Fund Grant Program to obtain the funding needed to make the improvements identified as part of the audit. The state hopes that this program will help enable property owners in environmental justice communities to make needed upgrades to the properties while simultaneously lowering their energy bills.
The Illinois EPA Office of Energy has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity and will be accepting applications for the program until the funding is spent. For more information on the program, please contact Rebecca Luke, Office of Energy - Energy Projects Coordinator at Rebecca.J.Luke@Illinois.gov.