Amid rising energy costs, local grant administrators expect the new funds to save homeowners and renters money and help expand the state’s clean-energy workforce.
Wyoming’s $30.26 million grant will be aimed at rooftop solar projects and workforce job training, particularly in low-income and Tribal communities.
The upfront costs of installing solar panels can deter first-time buyers from going solar, and “this federal funding, especially with the key to assist primarily low- to moderate-income customers, really breaks down that barrier,” Volzke said. Without the funding, it would likely not have been feasible for people in those income brackets to lower their energy costs by installing solar panels.
Solar panels’ ability to provide hyper-local, cheap energy is one of the reasons why Kane hopes some of Wyoming’s grant money goes toward developing community solar projects, arrays of panels that can supply power to several households or businesses at once. Current state law does not support community solar, he said, a technicality Kane hopes will soon change through revised or new legislation. “We need to set it up so that utilities can legally permit [community solar] construction and interconnection,” Kane said.
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