FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

February 25, 2025

MEDIA CONTACT: 

e: jessica.myers@mail.house.gov

c: 202.913.0126

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswomen Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44) reintroduced a bill that would create a federal program to build clean energy microgrids to power critical infrastructure for communities in the aftermath of an extreme weather event or power shut-off.

The Energy Resilient Communities Act takes a significant step forward in energy equity and environmental justice, by prioritizing grant applications from low-income communities and communities of color for clean energy microgrid grants. These grants will help combat power outages and rolling blackouts, reduce pollution, create green jobs, and fight the climate crisis.

“As communities in every corner of our nation continue to face extreme weather events and other natural disasters brought on by the climate crisis, the need to fortify their climate resiliency and bridge long standing environmental disparities remains abundantly clear. Congress cannot and must not leave vulnerable Americans to fend for themselves in the face of this existential emergency, and that’s why I’m proud to stand with Congresswoman Barragán to reintroduce the Energy Resilient Communities Act,” said Rep. Clarke. “This critical legislation will empower at-risk communities with the resources they need to develop clean energy microgrids, ensuring they’ll keep power through whatever challenges this crisis may bring.”

“As wildfires, hurricanes and other climate disasters become more frequent and severe, we must ensure that communities—especially those historically overburdened by pollution and energy shortages—have access to reliable, clean power,” said Rep. Barragán. “The Energy Resilient Communities Act invests in clean energy microgrids, ensuring hospitals, fire stations, and essential services stay online when disaster strikes. This bill will create good-paying jobs, lower energy costs, and strengthen our clean energy future.”

Energy Resilient Communities Act Highlights:

• Authorizes $50 million in annual grants for technical assistance and $1.5 billion in annual grants for clean energy microgrids to support the critical infrastructure needed in the aftermath of an extreme weather event. 
• A minimum of $150 million of annual authorized funding is reserved for grants supporting the construction of community-owned energy systems. 
• State and local governments, territories, political subdivisions of the state, tribal agencies, utilities, and non-profits can apply for grants. 
• Grants are prioritized for applications from environmental justice communities. 
• Examples of critical infrastructure include hospitals, grocery stores, community centers, public safety facilities, water systems, public or affordable housing, medical baseline customers, and senior housing. 
• Projects are additionally prioritized based on several criteria, including how effectively they reduce pollution and improve public health, whether they are built on previously disturbed land, whether they provide contracts for women and minority owned businesses, their utilization of apprenticeships, and whether the proposed project will be a community-owned energy system. 
• The maximum federal cost share of 60%, except for environmental justice communities, where the maximum federal cost share is 90%. 
• Includes Buy American provisions to maximize the creation of American manufacturing jobs in the production of materials and technology for microgrids. 
• There are worker hiring targets for each project to maximize the number of local and economically disadvantaged workers, including those who live in environmental justice communities or were displaced from a previous job in the energy sector.

The bill can be found here.

Reps. Clarke and Barragán were joined by 30 original cosponsors of the Energy Resilient Communities Act: Hank Johnson, Emmanuel Cleaver, Andre Carson, Troy Carter, Suzanne Bonamici, Ro Khanna, Rashida Tlaib, Steve Cohen, Paul Tonko, Kevin Mullin, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jerrold Nadler, Melanie Stansbury, Pramila Jayapal, Mary Gay Scanlon, Raul Grijalva, Ed Case, Jared Huffman, Jared Moskowitz, Jill Tokuda, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mike Quigley, Shri Thanedar, Andrea Salinas, Chellie Pingree, Johnny Olszewski, Kathy Castor, Yassamin Ansari, Doris Matsui.

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