Opportunities for Renewable Energy on Contaminated Sites under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
Sponsored by: EPA's RE-Powering America's Land Initiative
The EPA-administered Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) will be investing $27 billion in federal resources, and mobilizing significant additional private capital, over the next five to seven years to address the climate crisis. Among GGRF-eligible clean energy investments are renewable energy projects on contaminated sites such as brownfields, landfills, and former mine lands.
In this webinar, learn how some GGRF grantees could support financing for renewables on contaminated sites and how others may choose to consider clean energy redevelopment of these sites. The webinar is timely because EPA recently obligated funds to GGRF state, tribal, and multi-state nonprofit grantees, meaning that some GGRF grantees are now able to begin accessing their funds to implement their GGRF financing programs. Other GGRF grantees are starting a one-year planning period to engage with their communities and finalize financing program designs.
The webinar will include an update on GGRF's three programs — the National Clean Investment Fund, the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator, and the Solar for All program — from EPA program leadership as well as a panel discussing creative renewable energy strategies for contaminated sites under GGRF.
The GGRF panel discussion and Q&A with federal and state officials and a renewable energy developer will educate state, tribal, and other government agency officials and their stakeholders on how:
- Federal GGRF finance funding can spur further private capital to significantly accelerate renewable energy development;
- GGRF-funded programs may achieve additional, local redevelopment benefits by encouraging renewable energy in low-income and disadvantaged communities where contaminated lands are often located;
- New community solar projects can be a key mechanism for expanding solar access for low-income residential customers;
- Community solar represents the fastest-growing revenue model for contaminated site renewable projects nationally;
- An agency can pursue renewables on contaminated lands within GGRF financing sources if it wishes to do so; and
- To find additional EPA resources to support development of renewable energy on contaminated sites.
For information on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, please see: https://www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund. For information on the 60 Solar for All grantees selected for a cumulative $7 billion in awards, please see: https://www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund/solar-all.
David Widawsky, PhD, Director, Office of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, U.S. EPA
David Widawsky is the Director of EPA's Office of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a historic $27 billion investment to combat the climate crisis by mobilizing financing and private capital that will finance clean technology deployment nationally, finance clean technology deployment in low-income and disadvantaged communities while simultaneously building the capacity of community lenders that serve those communities, and spur adoption of clean distributed solar energy that lowers energy bills for millions of Americans in communities communities that need it the most. David joined the U.S. EPA in 1998, where he has created and led innovative public-private partnership initiatives, and where he has served in a number of leadership roles in EPA's Office of the Administrator, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and Office of Pesticide Programs. David received undegraduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley; his masters degree from Colorado State University; and earned his Ph.D. in Applied Economics at Stanford University.
Elizabeth Mahony, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources
Elizabeth Mahony most recently worked for Attorneys General Andrea Joy Campbell and Maura Healey as an Assistant Attorney General and Senior Policy Advisor for Energy. Elizabeth served in the Energy and Telecommunications Division, focusing on utility clean energy procurements, solar program
development, clean energy rate design, consumer protections, and legislative engagement. Before joining the Attorney General's Office, Elizabeth was Acting General Counsel for the Department of Energy Resources and Committee Counsel to Benjamin Downing, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy before that. Prior to her work in the energy field, Elizabeth was an associate at a small litigation firm in Quincy, Massachusetts, and was Public Affairs Director for the
late Senator Susan C. Fargo (D-Lincoln). She is a member of the Boston Bar Association's Energy Committee. Elizabeth is a graduate of Marist College and Suffolk University Law School. She lives in Walpole.
Paul Curran, Chief Development Officer, CleanCapital
Paul Curran is the Chief Development Officer at CleanCapital, a diversified clean energy company, and was previously the CEO and founder of BQ Energy (BQE), which was acquired by CleanCapital in 2022. Curran founded BQE 20 years ago, where he became the first fulltime developer of renewable energy projects on landfill and brownfield. He is passionate about working with lower and middle-income communities (LMI) to develop renewable energy projects on polluted sites.
Moderators:
Lora Strine, Team Leader, RE-Powering America's Land Initiative, U.S. EPA (strine.lora@epa.gov)
Lora Strine is team leader for EPA's RE-Powering America's Land Initiative. She has twenty years of experience in the energy and environment field. Ms. Strine coordinates the promotion and development of resources to help communities redevelop contaminated lands with renewable energy.
Jean Balent, U.S. EPA Technology Innovation and Field Services Division (balent.jean@epa.gov or 202-566-0832)
Ms Balent is on the staff of the EPA's Technology Innovation and Field Services Division where she has worked to collect and disseminate hazardous waste remediation and characterization information since 2003. Ms Balent manages the Clean Up Information Network website and actively supports online communication and collaboration resources available to EPA. She formerly worked with the US Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Engineering Division in the Buffalo District. Ms Balent was also a member of the SUNY-Buffalo Groundwater Research Group where she constructed and tested large scale models of groundwater flow. Ms Balent has also conducted research relating to the Great Lakes, environmental remediation, and brownfields re-development. She holds a Bachelor's degree in environmental engineering from SUNY-Buffalo and a Master's degree in Information Technology from AIU.
Webinar Slides and References:
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Slide Presentation for Strine (1.03MB/PDF)
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Slide Presentation for Widawsky (920KB/PDF)
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Slide Presentation for Curran (6.22MB/PDF)
Additional Resources:
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