Dive Brief:
- State education departments in Alabama, Arizona, California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and the Northern Mariana Islands received grants that combined totaled more than $32 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s Supporting America’s School Infrastructure grant program, the Treasury Department announced Jan. 4.
- Most grants were between $4.5 million and $5 million, with the exception of Pennsylvania, which received $2.6 million. The program is designed to bolster the capacity of states to assist school districts in improving their facilities.
- The Treasury Department said this funding, alongside the Renew America’s Schools Program, will help address school infrastructure needs, make energy improvements and save districts money.
Dive Insight:
K-12 school districts in the U.S. spend nearly $8 billion annually on energy costs, the second largest expense after teacher salaries, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Despite aging school facilities, limited budgets continue to result in deferred maintenance, with $270 billion in estimated infrastructure repairs needed across the country, the Treasury Department said.
The first round of the Renew America’s Schools program awards, named last June, provided funding to 24 districts across the country, with 15 recipients in disadvantaged communities. The DOE expects to release a second round of funding this spring. Eligible projects will include energy infrastructure improvements that reduce building operating costs, such as new HVAC and ventilation systems, building envelope and lighting projects and renewable energy technologies, with funding also available for alternative fuel vehicles, the DOE said.
In addition to applying for grants, schools can use clean energy tax credits for their qualifying projects or investments, Treasury noted. These include the investment tax credit and the production tax credit as well as commercial clean vehicle credits and alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credits.
Projects that such tax credits can support include central geothermal systems to heat campuses and community buildings, solar panels on school roofs to provide electricity to school buildings and microgrids with solar and energy storage to support facilities during grid outages, the Treasury Department said. Schools can also channel these credits toward buying electric school buses or other clean energy vehicles and charging equipment.
While the value of the tax credit will depend on project details, school districts can utilize these credits in combination with grants and loans to reduce the cost of infrastructure improvement projects, Treasury said.
To receive these tax credits, districts must complete a pre-filing registration with the IRS. On Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 2 p.m. ET, the Treasury Department will host an Elective Pay and Energy Credits webinar that includes information on the pre-filing registration process.
