Collective Energy and our fellow CHARGE Partners along with project partner Clean Energy Group have been awarded a Cooperative Agreement through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) for up to $57 million in federal funds to provide solar microgrids to health centers in the rural Southeast (HHS Region IV).
This funding is expected to cover up to 70% of the costs for solar and battery systems at health centers and can likely be combined with Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) direct pay rebates for even greater savings. The IRA may be coupled with the OCED Cooperative Agreement to allow health centers to receive up to 30% in direct pay rebates.
This means health centers in the rural Southeast can install solar plus battery storage projects for a total discount of 70-100%.
Health centers may submit an application form (up to three sites) to participate in this initiative. Applications will remain open and rolling until funds have been allocated. The following criteria will be utilized to prioritize sites:
- Site(s) located in HHS Region IV (Region IV serves the Southeastern region, which includes eight states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee – and six federally recognized Tribes)
- Located in a rural city, town or census designated place with less than 10,000 people
- Willingness to contribute 30% of cost of solar panel and battery system for cost share (more information below)
- Site(s) located in areas prone to power outages
- Site(s) that have limited or lack reliable source of back-up power
- Site(s) in primary care shortage areas
Health centers are eligible for 70-100% off the cost of a solar microgrid. To be eligible for this program, health centers are asked to contribute up to 30% of the solar microgrid system investment. The 30% contribution will cover a portion of costs, including planning/completing the solar microgrid installations and program costs. After microgrid projects are completed, health centers may be eligible for a 30% tax rebate on solar microgrid investments through the IRA Investment Tax Credit and recoup the initial expense of the project. Project partners are available to assist health centers in planning for this contribution through deposits or financing the health center contribution. Further, the project partners will also be able to project long-term savings to the health center.
