"The EPA’s new $27 billion clean energy fund is fueling interest in both red and blue states to launch their own green banks to leverage investment in solar, wind, and energy efficiency projects.
Green banks opened in about a half dozen states in the past two years, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, and other states are getting closer to instituting them. Illinois launched two green banks in 2021, and Maine passed legislation that year establishing its Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator to mobilize funding for renewable energy, grid improvements, and electric vehicle charging stations.
“I don’t think it’s a blue or red state thing—I think under the IRA, you would be foolish to not try to find ways to bring one of the fastest growing areas of investment activity into your state because it’s a job-rich” proposition, said Rachel Kyte, dean of Tufts University’s The Fletcher School, referring to the Inflation Reduction Act, which included the $27 billion clean energy fund.
The fund provides about $20 billion to promote green bank financing and leverage other climate-friendly investments. An additional $7 billion is reserved for states, municipalities, and tribal governments’ efforts to benefit low-income and other disadvantaged communities."
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