The Biden administration announced several initiatives today as leaders from across the country gathered to acknowledge the second anniversary of the founding of the Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization. BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director Jason Walsh was among the leaders at the White House roundtable event.

The announcements included new guidance from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on the energy communities bonus tax credit established by the Inflation Reduction Act, including what communities will be eligible for the increased credit. In anticipation of the guidance, the BlueGreen Alliance prepared a fact sheet to showcase the available investments to energy communities in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act. In addition, the administration released a Funding Opportunity Announcement for the BIL’s Clean Energy Demonstration Program on Current and Former Mine Lands; a coal power plant redevelopment visualization tool that will enable communities, project developers, and local governments to plan for redevelopment and investment opportunities; and an 11-agency Memorandum of Understanding that sets expectations for each agency within the IWG as they work to get new resources into energy communities were also announced.

In response to the announcements, the BlueGreen Alliance released a statement from Executive Director Jason Walsh:

“We’re proud to support these efforts to ensure our energy transition is fair for impacted workers and communities. Investing in America means lifting up workers and communities and leaving no one behind as we transition to a cleaner future. With the right guidelines in place, the Inflation Reduction Act and BIL will help ensure that.”