Briefing Series: Agencies in Action

Find out more about the briefings in this series below:

The first briefing in the series featured the Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP), which provides rural electric cooperatives, other rural utilities, credit unions, and green banks with zero-percent loans to launch or expand energy efficiency, beneficial electrification, and renewable energy on-bill financing programs. 

RESP was authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2016. To date, RESP has made loans worth more than $180 million to 30 utilities in 17 states. Panelists will discuss the importance of RESP in helping rural communities transform how they finance clean energy and advance equity.

Key Takeaways

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP) was created by Congress to help rural electric cooperatives and other eligible entities, like green banks, to reduce the energy burden of rural households. RESP allocates about $6 billion in loans per year to cooperatives across the country that help provide renewable energy, energy storage, or energy conservation measures to their members and customers.
• There are more than 900 rural electric cooperatives across the country, contributing nearly $88.5 billion to U.S. GDP annually and providing about 611,600 jobs. Fifty-six percent of the U.S. landmass is served by rural electric cooperatives. This service area overlaps significantly with high-poverty counties. RESP is one of the most effective tools to increase quality of life for rural and low-income households.
• The Equity Commission that advises USDA programs and policies can ensure that RESP funding reaches disadvantaged communities.
• Orcas Power and Light Cooperative (OPALCO) is a rural electric utility in San Juan County, Washington. OPALCO, with help from EESI, started an on-bill financing program in 2019 with $5.8 million in loans from RESP. The cooperative now has an aggregate of $46.8 million in RESP funds available to loan out.

The second briefing in the series covered federal energy efficiency programs administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) that support millions of jobs and deliver direct, meaningful savings to homeowners, consumers, and businesses—all while reducing the stresses and strains on the U.S. energy system.

Energy efficiency also improves the sustainability and resilience of communities and contributes to near-term reductions in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Panelists discussed how all these benefits play out on the ground from the state, private sector, and federal agency perspectives.

Key Takeaways

• The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Labs are important partners for the energy management industry. For example, Eaton, a $60 billion power management company, has 20 engineers embedded in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL’s) Colorado offices, giving the company access to world-class engineers, software, and demonstration technologies.
• The Building Technologies Office (BTO) works to improve the energy performance of the 149 million buildings in the United States through the use of advanced building envelope technologies, advanced building construction technologies, appliance and equipment standards, and energy codes.
• The Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) works with industry to support research, development, and deployment of energy efficiency and environmental performance in the industrial and manufacturing environment.
• The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) helps every agency and every site within the federal government meet its energy, water, climate, resilience, and security goals. The Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) program provides funding for big projects under the FEMP program.
• The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) has been providing funding for weatherizing low-income homes for 40 years to improve energy efficiency around the country.
• The State Energy Program (SEP) provides energy funding and technical assistance to states and territories to advance energy goals and create jobs.

The third briefing in the series will cover climate adaptation programs. As climate change continues to impact communities and ecosystems across the country, federal programs that focus on adaptation are playing a key role in helping communities prepare for and stay safe from the impacts of our changing climate. Panelists will discuss adaptation-focused federal programs administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Army Corps of Engineers, and other agencies, and why these programs are important for districts across the country. 

Key Takeaways

• The United States does not currently have a national adaptation strategy and federal programs that support adaptation and resilience are spread out across agencies.
• The White House National Climate Task Force has five resilience working groups focused on wildfires, coastal impacts, extreme heat, drought, and flooding.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has set three climate goals: providing climate data that best supports decision-making; advancing equity in all aspects of NOAA’s mission; and recognizing the opportunity for economic growth and climate-smart innovation. NOAA tools to support adaptation work include Climate.gov, Drought.gov, Atlas 14, and the Digital Coast Sea Level Rise Viewer.
• Funding for a program like Restore the Mississippi Delta comes from across the federal government, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), NOAA, and the Department of Interior.
• The National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy aims to restore and maintain landscapes, build fire-adapted communities, and improve response to fire. Currently, significant investments are being made in fire response and suppression, but the same level of investment is needed for landscape restoration and fire-adapted communities.
• Adaptation and resilience funding and programs must address systemic inequities and work to increase equity. Initiatives must focus on increasing capacity within communities, so that they can design solutions. When developing programs, it is necessary to also provide support to communities to access relevant grants, as many communities lack the technical capacity to apply.

The final briefing in the series focused on landscape conservation. Ecosystems often span county, state, tribal, and national borders. Wide swaths of area must be managed across jurisdictions and in collaboration with stakeholders on the ground to maximize social and environmental benefits, including ecosystem services such as water filtration and carbon sequestration. Furthermore, networks of intact and connected core habitats, working lands, and open space facilitate the migration of species, which is especially important for allowing animals to adapt to climate and land use changes, as well as for reducing human-wildlife conflict and wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Panelists dove into the benefits of coordinating conservation efforts at the scale of large landscapes and showcased opportunities to advance an inclusive and durable national framework for landscape conservation.

Key Takeaways

• No single entity alone has the authority or the ability to address conservation challenges across the United States. A coordinated national effort by the conservation community is required. This effort, due to its scale and scope, would be best supported by federal leadership.
• A national framework for landscape conservation should not be a top-down regulatory approach. Rather, it should be a set of conditions that would elevate shared conservation priorities and challenges from the bottom up. It could also include a national network of collaborative conservation partnerships.
• A national survey by the Network for Landscape Conservation identified 122 collaborative landscape conservation initiatives in the United States. The projects are locally focused, but they achieve significant regional and national outcomes.
• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58) provides $400 million in ecosystem restoration grants to states, tribes, and territories. Continued engagement with states and tribes on implementation is critical.
• There is no guaranteed funding for tribal fish and wildlife programs. Tribes must cobble together funds piecemeal for their programs through multiple funding sources. The Recovering America's Wildlife Act (H.R.2773) would be a great way to work with tribes. For the first time, tribes were included in the development of this conservation bill from the beginning. The tribal title would provide base funds for tribal fish and wildlife programs.