DOE deal

Texas lands largest portion of energy efficiency-focused federal grant program

The DOE funding will go toward the creation of a new Texas-based revolving loan fund that operationally matches the existing Texas LoanSTAR revolving loan program. Photo via Getty Images

Texas is among one of 17 states and territories to receive a portion of $66 million in awards for initiatives that pump federal dollars into their communities to support energy efficient projects.

The funds come from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Capitalization Grant Program. The RLF Program awards are intended to be put toward state-based loans and grants that go towards local businesses homeowners, and public spaces for "for energy efficiency audits, upgrades, and retrofits to increase energy efficiency," according to the DOE.

Texas received the largest portion thus far at $22.4 million. The dollars will go toward the creation of a new Texas-based revolving loan fund that operationally matches the existing Texas LoanSTAR revolving loan program.

The program currently finances energy-related, cost-reduced retrofits of public spaces as well as local municipalities. As of last year it had awarded more than 337 loans totaling more than $600 million, according to the Texas Comptroller's website.

In addition to the revolving loan, the state plans to use the DOE funds to provide free energy audit services to the community.

The DOE also awarded funding to create similar revolving loan programs and grants in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

According to the DOE, every federal dollar invested into a state or local revolving loan fund can bring more than of $20 in private capital toward successful energy financing programs.

“Increased opportunities for low-cost financing will help states and territories expand access to the money-saving clean energy tools that will benefit the residential, commercial and public sectors,” Jennifer M. Granholm, U.S. Secretary of Energy, said in a statement. “We are excited to see states and territories take advantage of targeted and impactful financing options to transform their communities.”

The latest funding is the third award made by the RLF Program, which plans to make another round of awards later this year and a total $242 million once wrapped.

Other awards in this latest round include:

  • Arizona ($1,690,280)
  • Colorado ($1,631,220)
  • Delaware ($746,400)
  • Georgia ($2,453,810)
  • Iowa($7,068,920)
  • Kansas ($6,706,230)
  • Maine ($863,110)
  • Massachusetts ($1,894,760)
  • Minnesota ($1,884,300).
  • Nevada ($1,043,290)
  • New Jersey ($2,383,510)
  • New Mexico ($5,692,530)
  • Oklahoma ($7,592,300)
  • Puerto Rico ($1,070,490)
  • Rhode Island ($762,790)
  • U.S. Virgin Islands ($576,170)

Click here and here to read more about the previous awards.

Earlier this summer the DOE also awarded four Houston companies have received $50,000 each from the U.S. Department of Energy to further develop their carbon dioxide removal technology. Click here to read more.

Trending News

A View From HETI

20-plus companies will pitch at Energy Tech Nexus' Pilotathon during Houston Energy & Climate Startup Week. Photo via Getty Images.

Energy Tech Nexus will host its Pilotathon and Showcase as part of Houston Energy & Climate Startup Week next Tuesday, Sept. 16, featuring insightful talks from industry leaders and pitches from an international group of companies in the clean energy space.

This year's event will center around the theme "Energy Access and Resilience." Attendees will hear pitches from nine Pilotathon pitch companies, as well as the 14 companies that were named to Energy Tech Nexus' COPILOT accelerator earlier this year.

COPILOT partners with Browning the Green Space, a nonprofit that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the clean energy and climatetech sectors. The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory backs the COPILOT accelerator, where companies are tasked with developing pilot projects for their innovations.

The nine Pilotathon pitch companies include:

  • Ontario-based AlumaPower, which has developed a breakthrough technology that converts the aluminum-air battery into a "galvanic generator," a long-duration energy source that runs on aluminum as a fuel
  • Calgary-based BioOilSolv, a chemical manufacturing company that has developed cutting-edge biomass-derived solvents
  • Atlanta-based Cultiv8 Fuels, which creates high-quality renewable fuel products derived from hemp
  • Newfoundland-based eDNAtec Inc., a leader in environmental genomics that analyzes biodiversity and ecological health
  • Oregon-based Espiku Inc., which designs and develops water treatment and mineral extraction technologies that rely on low-pressure evaporative cycles
  • New York-based Fast Metals Inc., which has developed a chemical process to extract valuable metals from complex toxic mine tailings that is capable of producing iron, aluminum, scandium, titanium and other rare earth elements using industrial waste and waste CO2 as inputs
  • New Jersey-based Metal Light Inc., which is building a circular, solid metal fuel that will serve as a replacement for diesel fuel
  • Glasgow-based Novosound, which designs and manufactures innovative ultrasound sensors using a thin-film technique to address the limitations of traditional ultrasound with applications in industrial, medical and wearable markets
  • Calgary-based Serenity Power, which has developed a cutting-edge solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology

The COPILOT accelerator companies include:

  • Accelerate Wind
  • Aquora Biosystems Inc.
  • EarthEn
  • Electromaim
  • EnKoat
  • GeoFuels
  • Harber Coatings Inc.
  • Janta Power
  • NanoSieve
  • PolyQor Inc.
  • Popper Power
  • Siva Powers America
  • ThermoShade
  • V-Glass Inc.

Read more about them here.

The Pilotathon will also include a keynote from Taylor Chapman, investment manager at New Climate Ventures; Deanna Zhang, CEO at V1 Climate Solutions; and Jolene Gurevich, director of fellowship experience at Breakthrough Energy. The Texas Climate Tech Collective will present its latest study on the Houston climate tech and innovation ecosystem.

CEOs Moji Karimi of Cemvita, Laureen Meroueh of Hertha Metals and others will also participate in a panel on successful pilots. Investors from NetZero Ventures, Halliburton Labs, Chevron, Saudi Aramco, Prithvi VC and other organizations will also be on-site. Find registration information here.

Trending News