Community Solar Projects for Lower-Income Residents in Vermont (specific solar grant initiatives)

Community Solar Projects for Lower-Income Residents in Vermont (specific solar grant initiatives) is sponsored by Vermont (specific solar grant initiatives). Community Solar Projects for Lower-Income Residents in Vermont is a grant from Vermont state solar grant initiatives that funds community solar access programs benefiting low-income households who cannot host their own rooftop solar installations.

Join Vermont's Solar For All Email List For Updates For information on requests for proposals click on the "Solar For All Requests for Proposals and Information" button above. **Solar For All - Improving Access to Clean Solar Energy for Vermonters** All work and activities related to Vermont’s Solar For All (SFA) program have been paused as of August 7, 2025 and will remain paused until further notice.

Vermont received notice on August 7, 2025, from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that Vermont’s SFA award was terminated due to language contained in US House Bill 1 (H. 1) of 2025 that was signed into law by the president on July 4, 2025. All SFA awardees across the country received the same termination letter.

Since receiving the termination notice Vermont has been in communication with other SFA awardees regarding what Vermont, along with many other states and SFA awardees, sees as a wrongful termination of a signed grant agreement funded by congressionally obligated funds.

The Public Service Department, under direction of Governor Scott, has submitted a notice of administrative dispute and a notice of objection to the EPA regarding their attempt to terminate Vermont’s SFA award.

The PSD, as part of the Scott administration, is working with the Attorney General’s Office to identify other actions the state can take to regain access to the $62 million SFA award, including joining litigation seeking to overturn the EPA’s termination of the SFA Program. The Vermont Public Service Department (PSD) is pleased to announce an award of $62.

45 million from the Environmental Protection Agency for a Vermont Solar for All (SFA) program. The Vermont program will allow low-income Vermonters to access the benefits of solar power.

This award is part of the historic $7 billion Solar For All Competition (SFA), which was created under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to lower energy costs for families, create jobs, advance environmental justice and tackle the climate crisis. Solar For All Vermont will allow qualifying low-income households to benefit from clean solar energy.

The program intends to offer three distinct options to Vermonters: * Residential solar installations for homeowners * Opportunities for membership in a community solar project * Benefits for residents of affordable housing **TIMING:** The EPA announced awards on April 22, 2024.

Grant agreements between Vermont and the EPA were finalized in September 2024 and the draft work plan for Vermont's Solar For All program was approved by the EPA in December of 2024. Solar For All benefits for Vermonters are expected to become available in the second half of 2025. The PSD is hiring contractors and executing grant agreements with partnering entities as we finalize our work plan.

Solar For All planning will include finalizing details of each of the three sub-program, with some programs potentially launching before others. The grant cycle is five years with potential for future expansion. Vermont's Solar For All will establish the Residential Assistance in Solar Energy (RAISE) program and the Multi-Family Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) program.

It will also increase funding for the Affordable Community Renewable Energy (ACRE) program. **WHY:** Vermont's electric supply is increasingly clean, and while many Vermonters can already produce their own solar power, there have been very limited opportunities for low to moderate-income Vermonters to participate. Allowing all Vermonters the same access to renewable energy advances equity and energy justice.

**WHO IS ELIGIBLE:**Program details are still being developed, but there will likely be several ways to qualify as eligible for Vermont's Solar for All programs such as: * Categorical eligibility for recipients of benefits from LIHEAP, 3 SquaresVT, Fuel Assistance, Reach Up, WIC, and possibly other programs; * Residents of disadvantaged communities as defined by the EPA, and that are low- or moderate-income households; * Tenants of properties providing permanently affordable housing; * VT electric utility customers with household incomes not exceeding 80% AMI or 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.

**HOW**: Participating households will either gain direct ownership of a solar installation, or a long-term membership share to a community solar project, with some participants possibly also being able to combine storage with solar. Each subprogram is being designed to offer participants an average monthly electricity bill reduction of at least 20%, with some experiencing even greater savings.

Program fun ds are expected to be used through each of the following programs: * **RAISE** – The Residential Assistance in Solar Energy (RAISE) Program will off er the opportunity for direct ownership of net-metered rooftop solar installations of up to 5 kilowatts to participants.

Systems may be financed with subsidized loans through non-profit lenders who will own the system for a 5-year term so that the Investment Tax Credit can be realized through Elective Pay tax provisions of the IRA. Projects will also be subsidized through direct incentives, perhaps up to 100% of the cost.

At the end of the loan term, the ownership of the system will be transferred from the lender to the homeowner, offering years of continued energy savings. Where critical needs can be demonstrated (medical equipment, high-occurrence/long-duration power outages, etc.), storage systems may be included as part of the project for participants.

These battery (storage) systems can also provide grid benefits during peak-load events, in addition to backup power for customers during outages. Enabling upgrades are also eligible for this program including roof repairs, and electric service enhancements.

* **MASH** – The Multi-Family Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) Program will sub-award funding to a Multi-Family Affordable Housing organization that can offer grants and/or loans to affordable housing developers. Projects will prioritize roof-top space and available on-site land, where practicable, for the installation of net-metered projects.

Additionally, larger-scale projects built remotely will offer energy savings to affordable housing projects through special tariffs through the interconnecting of distribution utilities. * **ACRE** – Vermont’s current Affordable Community Renewable Energy (ACRE) Program will be expanded through the funding made available by SAV.

ACRE is a grant program that provides federal funding to Vermont distribution utilities (DUs) to create and implement programs that help low-income electric utility customers. ACRE was initially intended to provide economic assistance to Vermonters who were disproportionately harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. SAV will extend the duration of the program that is currently time-limited by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding source.

This program extension will offer electric bill reductions through special utility tariffs tied to the production of energy from large-scale solar installations. Contact us with questions or comments at PSD. SEOSolarForAll@vermont.

gov. _To read Vermont’s Solar For All 2024 Workplan approved by the EPA, click here. _ _To read the EPA's Solar For All (SFA) Terms and Conditions (12/3/2024) click here. _ _To read Vermont's Solar For All_ Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP)_click here_