California Energy Grants

The California Climate Crisis Act (AB 1279, 2022) established targets to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 85% below 1990 levels and reach carbon neutrality by 2045. Supporting this legislation, the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) 2022 Scoping Plan specifies that carbon removal activities such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) are new approaches that will need to be deployed to help achieve these GHG emissions reduction goals. Carbon dioxide (CO2) utilization is a promising approach in facilitating adoption of carbon capture and carbon removal while partially diverting the need for long term transportation and underground storage of CO2. Current CO2 utilization technologies are at an early stage of development and bear technical, economic, and market uncertainty. The carbon footprint associated with the energy consumption required to convert CO2 into value-added products prevents large-scale deployment of these technologies. The purpose of this solicitation is to improve the energy efficiency of innovative approaches and processes for manufacturing commodities using CO2 captured from industrial operations burning fossil gas. The goal is to decarbonize difficult-to-abate industrial fossil gas use via carbon dioxide utilization to create value-added products.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to projects that expand electric vehicle charging access for residents of multi-family housing, particularly in disadvantaged or low-income communities, promoting EV adoption and reliable charging solutions.

The City of Pittsburg Façade Improvement Grant Program aims to stimulate investment in the local business community by offering up to $10,000 for façade enhancements to eligible businesses. This initiative aligns with the city's mission to support and foster the growth of its local businesses, recognizing them as essential for community vitality, opportunity creation, and creativity. By focusing on visible improvements to storefronts, the program directly contributes to the beautification of public-facing areas and the overall image of the city. The primary beneficiaries of this program are small, brick-and-mortar businesses with public-facing storefronts located within Pittsburg city limits and holding an active City of Pittsburg Business License. Shopping centers with five or fewer tenants are also eligible. The program explicitly excludes home-based businesses and businesses that sell tobacco, alcohol, cannabis products, or adult materials. The impact goal is to create more inviting storefronts, improve neighborhood characteristics, encourage reinvestment in older buildings, and increase potential foot traffic for businesses, ultimately benefiting the businesses, their customers, and the wider Pittsburg community. The program prioritizes enhancements and beautification of public-facing building façades that will improve the image and characteristics of the building, the business, and the City. Specific focuses include signage, awnings, exterior paint (including anti-graffiti), architectural treatments, stucco, cladding, and/or siding repair, windows, front entrance doors, exterior lighting, planter boxes, and bicycle racks. The City seeks businesses that will provide the maximum return on investment and long-lasting benefits. A property-owner-led application is highly encouraged to ensure uniform projects, though individual tenants can also apply. The expected outcomes include a more aesthetically pleasing urban environment, increased business visibility, and a more inviting experience for customers. Measurable results will include the number of façades improved, the amount of grant funds dispersed (up to $10,000 per applicant from a $30,000 budget), and potentially qualitative feedback on improved neighborhood characteristics and increased foot traffic. The City's strategic priority is to invest in its local businesses to help them thrive, with a theory of change that by improving the physical appearance of business fronts, the city can stimulate economic activity, enhance community pride, and foster a more vibrant local economy.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is offering a competitive grant of over $1 million for California dairy and livestock operations to implement non-digester manure management practices and technologies that reduce long-term methane emissions and maximize environmental benefits, with applications due by October 18, 2024.

This grant provides funding to nonprofit organizations in San Mateo County and the City of Los Banos to help residents save money on energy bills, improve local air quality, and promote environmental sustainability through outreach and education initiatives.

This grant provides funding to organizations experienced in electric vehicle infrastructure development to install high-powered DC fast charging stations along California's major highways, promoting clean transportation and long-distance EV travel.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to organizations that will assist under-resourced communities in California with securing funding and implementing projects for zero-emission vehicle infrastructure.

This grant provides over $25 million in funding to support California-based clean energy startups that are developing innovative technologies in areas like energy efficiency, electrification, and renewable energy generation.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to organizations that assist under-resourced communities in California with securing funding for zero-emission vehicle infrastructure projects.

The Monmouth County Community Grant, supported by the Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ), welcomes proposals from nonprofit organizations addressing a diverse array of community needs. While the CFNJ's broader mission likely encompasses fostering philanthropy and addressing critical issues within New Jersey, this specific grant program aligns with a commitment to supporting local initiatives in Monmouth County. The grant program seeks to empower organizations that demonstrate a dedication to improving the lives of residents and strengthening the community as a whole. This grant primarily targets underserved populations within Monmouth County, aiming to benefit them directly through programs and services in critical areas such as education, healthcare, housing, food security, employment, and youth development. The expected outcomes include tangible improvements in these areas, leading to enhanced well-being, increased opportunities, and a more equitable community for these beneficiaries. A key priority for funding consideration is a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), evident in both the leadership and service delivery of applicant organizations. Furthermore, the grant emphasizes collaborative partnerships between nonprofit organizations, community groups, government agencies, and other stakeholders. This focus on collaboration aims to maximize impact and address systemic issues affecting underserved populations more effectively, reflecting a strategic approach to problem-solving. The program also offers general operating support, recognizing the importance of sustained funding for nonprofits to continue their vital missions. The grant amount is up to $10,000 per organization, with eligibility primarily extended to nonprofit organizations with less than a $1,000,000 operating budget serving Monmouth County. This demonstrates a strategic priority to support smaller to medium-sized local organizations, enabling them to achieve measurable results and contribute to the overall health and vitality of the community.

This grant provides funding to military bases and facilities to install additional electric vehicle chargers for government and authorized private vehicles, promoting the use of zero-emission vehicles.

This solicitation presents an opportunity to shift towards on-site clean, dispatchable generation technologies, addressing the evolving generation mix and ensuring an ample supply of resources to meet the demands of critical facilities during the net peak period while maintaining system reliability. These technologies are well-suited to ensure a reliable and resilient energy supply for critical infrastructure on-site, including communications, healthcare, government offices, and many more, to provide on-demand load and peak matching. As such, this solicitation will focus on advancing emerging clean, dispatchable generation technologies, such as fuel cells or linear generators, using 100 percent renewable fuels, especially for critical sectors like industrial and commercial that have operational needs during peak hours. The projects from this solicitation will be deployed in these critical sectors and will reduce their demand on the grid, thereby decreasing the reliance from fossil-gas power plants during times of high electricity demand. Expected outcomes include on-site pilot-scale deployment of cost-effective and highly efficient clean, dispatchable generation technologies that will support energy demand of critical facilities and reduce the strain from the state’s electric grid while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and criteria pollutants by curbing fossil-based generation. Ultimately, these projects will contribute to supporting the state's decarbonization goals, enhancing the reliability and strengthening the resilience of the state’s electric grid by increasing the availability of on-site clean, dispatchable generation technologies.

This funding opportunity is designed to support innovative projects that develop and demonstrate Direct Air Capture technologies in California, while also engaging and educating local communities about carbon removal efforts.

This grant provides funding for public and private entities to develop charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure specifically for medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles in California.

This program provides funding to nonprofit organizations in Turlock to support services that assist low- to moderate-income individuals, such as food assistance, homeless services, and youth programs.

This solicitation has two purposes: 1) make $1,050,000 available to California Native American tribes for clean energy future planning as well as to better enable their participation in statewide clean energy and energy infrastructure planning activities and 2) make $500,000 available to local government entities to develop new or updated land use planning documents that support and advance the development of clean energy in their jurisdiction.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to California organizations that have received federal clean energy grants, helping them cover the required cost share to access additional federal funding.

This solicitation will target technologies that have the potential to demonstrate cost-effectiveness and scalable to multiple industrial facilities with potential to increase confidence for adoption.

The purpose of this solicitation is to fund applied research to increase California’s hydropower generation through precipitation enhancement (cloud seeding). Research funded by this solicitation will foster cost-effective, robust approaches to manage anticipated needs for zero-carbon, fast-ramping resources in the context of a rapidly evolving energy system and climate change.; The proposed research contributes to implementation of the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) 2021-2025 Investment Plan and responds to the strategic objective: “Inform California's Transition to an Equitable, Zero-Carbon Energy System that is Climate-Resilient and Meets Environmental Goals” (Chapter 7). Specifically, this solicitation supports the topic 44 within the Climate Resilience Initiative: “Integrating Climate Resilience in Electricity System Planning.” Hydroelectric power is an important source of zero-carbon, dispatchable power in California. It is a critical element of the state’s electricity system and in-state generation, providing peaking reserve, spinning reserve, and load following capacity, as well as transmission line support (Somani, et al., 2021). The percentage of the state’s electricity supplied by hydropower varies, as hydropower resources are strongly dependent on magnitude and timing of snowmelt runoff and rainfall. Between 2012 and 2021, hydropower (including in-state generation and imports) provided an average of 9 percent of California’s total energy mix (California Energy Commission 2022). As the state continues to contend with drought and other climate-driven impacts on water and hydropower resource availability, as well as develop more sustainable water management practices (California Water Action Plan, 2014), the proposed research will support opportunities for increasing and sustaining hydropower generation. Specifically, the research will contribute to more effective precipitation enhancement (cloud seeding) strategies.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to tribal governments, nonprofits, and educational institutions for solar energy projects that enhance energy independence and benefit low-to-moderate income communities.