A Multi-Billion Dollar EPA Fund Is Delivering the Energy Transition to Overlooked Communities

The policy brief outlines how the EPA's $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) can be leveraged to overcome market failures in clean energy financing for underserved US communities. It proposes three primary strategies: mobilizing additional public and private capital to potentially reach $250 billion over 10 years, prioritizing financial products that build long-term borrower wealth rather than just protecting lenders, and centering the role of community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and credit unions in the decarbonization process.

• The GGRF's $27 billion could act as a catalyst to mobilize more than $250 billion over a decade by strategically tapping into other public and private funding sources, including the estimated $390 billion in incentives provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
• Mainstream finance often fails low- and middle-income households and small businesses because the high upfront costs and long payoff periods of clean energy technologies, such as heat pumps and rooftop solar, are prohibitive.
• To foster lasting wealth in underserved markets, the GGRF should move beyond traditional 'credit enhancement' tools—which protect lenders—and instead develop creative products that improve the borrower's long-term credit and ability to access affordable debt.
• Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and credit unions are essential to the energy transition; currently, over 500 of these institutions offer green loan products.

APA

RMI (2023). A Multi-Billion Dollar EPA Fund Is Delivering the Energy Transition to Overlooked Communities. https://rmi.org/resources/a-multi-billion-dollar-epa-fund-is-delivering-the-energy-transition-to-overlooked-communities/

Chicago

RMI. A Multi-Billion Dollar EPA Fund Is Delivering the Energy Transition to Overlooked Communities. 2023. https://rmi.org/resources/a-multi-billion-dollar-epa-fund-is-delivering-the-energy-transition-to-overlooked-communities/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=A Multi-Billion Dollar EPA Fund Is Delivering the Energy Transition to Overlooked Communities |date=17 July 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/a-multi-billion-dollar-epa-fund-is-delivering-the-energy-transition-to-overlooked-communities/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2023multibillion, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{A Multi-Billion Dollar EPA Fund Is Delivering the Energy Transition to Overlooked Communities}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = jul, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/a-multi-billion-dollar-epa-fund-is-delivering-the-energy-transition-to-overlooked-communities/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }