The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Office of Energy Programs is using State Energy Program (SEP) funds authorized through the Infrastructure Investment and Job’s Act (IIJA) to expand their annual Shared Energy Manager program. This program connects local governments and school districts with a professional energy manager to help implement climate action plan measures, including municipal building energy benchmarking and audits, renewable energy feasibility analyses, and fleet electrification analyses.
With the SEP funds, the program will select up to 20 local governments per year to their annual Shared Energy Manager program awardee cohorts between 2024 and 2027, significantly expanding from the five awardees selected during the first two program years. Through its expansion, the Shared Energy Manager program will also fund a wider range of eligible projects (e.g., energy management planning for private residences and businesses as identified by the participating local government) and support participants in identifying and applying for additional state and federal funding. The 2024 cohort includes Allentown, PA, a first-time awardee. Allentown received support in applying for about $200,000 for an electric vehicle (EV) pilot.
More about Pennsylvania’s Shared Energy Manager program, and its complimentary Local Climate Action Program, that offers no-cost climate action planning to local governments, can be found here.