Solar for All

AEA Statement on the Nationwide Termination of the Solar for All Program

The Alaska Energy Authority has received formal notice from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stating that the Solar for All program has been terminated nationwide. In 2024, AEA was successful in securing a grant award of $62.5 million under this competitive program. Importantly, the grant did not require a state match, and no state funds were committed to the initiative.

Under the State of Alaska’s Solar for All grant, AEA partnered with the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to expand access to solar energy across the state. Leveraging the agencies' expertise and efficiencies, AEA was tasked with developing community-scale solar photovoltaic projects in remote areas, while AHFC planned to deliver residential solar installations to underserved households.

AEA remains committed to ensuring safe, reliable and affordable access to energy for all Alaskans. We will continue to evaluate opportunities that support energy development throughout Alaska and will share updates as more information becomes available.

 

Award from the U.S. EPA Solar for All Program

The Solar for All program is a $7 billion competitive grant program through the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Fund, authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act. It is designed to deploy residential and community solar photovoltaic (PV) projects benefiting underserved, low-income households, with no cost matching required from the grantees.

In spring 2024, the EPA announced the conditional award of two $62.45 million Solar for All grants for Alaska: a state government grant to the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) and a tribal grant to Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC). The grants were fully released by the EPA in November 2024 and January 2025, respectively, and program planning is in progress.

These two programs each have a solar energy workforce development component, and have a total of five sub-programs, which are described in detail below. 


Click the image above to view or download a full, printable PDF version of the infographic.

State of Alaska Solar for All (AKSFA)

AEA will run two sub-programs of AKSFA, focusing on community-scale solar and single/multi-family residential solar installations, respectively.

  • The AKSFA Community Solar Program is centered around the construction of community-scale solar PV projects that benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities. The primary focus of this sub-program will be to administer a statewide grant program to develop community solar photovoltaic arrays in remote areas of Alaska with battery energy storage systems, to the benefit of customers in underserved communities.
  • AHFC’s Residential Solar Program will be focused primarily on residential/multifamily solar developments. This statewide residential solar program which will provide subsidized residential solar PV installations for underserved households where net metering applies.  It will have a general (AKSFA/AEA) component and a tribal-specific (ATSFA/TCC) component.

Expected AKSFA Program launch date: July 2025

Tribal Programs: Alaska Tribal Solar for All (ATSFA)

Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC), under their federally funded Alaska Tribal Solar for All (ATSFA) grant, is also working with AHFC’s Residential Solar Program, but projects funded through the ATSFA program will benefit Alaska tribal households specifically.

TCC is further working with its partners to implement two further sub-programs:

  • The Railbelt Tribal Community Solar Program, administered directly by TCC, will award grants for Community Solar projects to qualifying tribes and Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act regional tribal non-profit organizations along the Alaska Railbelt.
  • ATSFA’s Community Solar Program, administered by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, will create an equity-based program to build community scale community-scale solar and battery energy storage systems for Tribes in rural Alaska. The goal of this program is to empower Tribes to meet their clean energy goals and generate revenue as Independent Power Producers to reduce the high cost of living in rural Alaska (applications are open for the ATSFA Community Solar program and can be found here and will close June 30, 2025).

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