RALEIGH, N.C. – The Department of Energy has announced $450,390 will be awarded to the city of Raleigh from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program.

The DOE made the announcement that Raleigh is one of 32 states, territories, local governments and tribes to receive the funding through the Biden administration’s Investing in America agenda. In total, $20.5 million is being awarded for transportation upgrades and energy efficiency incentives.

Raleigh plans to focus the funding on three main initiatives: an electric bicycle incentive program, a mobile public solar-powered EV charging station and 30 EV chargers for its municipal fleet.

Adam Guzzo, the program manager for EECBG, said more funding will be coming after the grant to Raleigh.

"It's our first award we're going to make in the state of North Carolina. But there's actually a total of over $9 million that's going to the state through both or directly to the state, as well as additional cities and counties that are eligible for funding,” Guzzo said.

“So really, this is just the beginning of funding available to the state of North Carolina to do a host of energy efficiency electrification, just a host of projects that can reduce energy use and emissions,” he said. 

This is the third round of grants through the EECBG program since October. According to the DOE, more than $431 million is available for states, local governments, tribes, territories and the District of Columbia to implement programs.

The goal is to fund programs and projects to improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions and reduce overall energy use.

The DOE states the program contributes to the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice40 Initiative, to support eligible governments to direct 40% of overall benefits from the EECBG program to disadvantaged communities.

The deadline for local governments and tribes to submit applications is April 30.