FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
info@nevadacef.org
(775) 737-0975
August 18, 2022
RENO, Nev. – The Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) celebrates the recent signing of the Inflation Reduction Act into law. The law will make $369 billion available to scale solutions to climate change and bring significant energy cost savings and health benefits to Americans.
Among many other clean energy provisions, the Inflation Reduction Act establishes a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, dedicating $27 billion to green bank activities that provide financing for clean energy. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund was the culmination of over a decade of work led by several US Senators and supported by the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) and 10 state governors, including Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak.
“The Nevada Clean Energy Fund is ready to leverage funding from this historic legislation to implement scalable and sustainable financing solutions that make clean energy accessible to all Nevadans,” said Kirsten Stasio, NCEF’s Executive Director.
NCEF was established by state legislation in 2017 as Nevada’s green bank, which is an institutional model that has been implemented in over a dozen US states to accelerate clean energy growth and tackle climate change, with a particular focus on underserved communities. Green banks provide financing and technical assistance for clean energy projects such as energy efficiency, electric vehicles (EVs), building electrification, and renewable energy resources. NCEF’s programs are targeted at making clean energy financing more accessible to homeowners, multi-family housing communities, small businesses, non-profits, schools, and rural areas.
“The impact of green banking is about to become very significant here in Nevada, helping us fight not just climate change, but provide help in the areas of health care, emerging small business development, job training and new opportunities for those displaced by technology, reducing unemployment and more,” said Senator Pat Spearman, author of the Senate Bill 407 that established NCEF.
The funding in the Inflation Reduction Act will enable Nevada to continue to build out its clean energy economy. Nevada is a national leader in clean energy, ranking first in per capita solar electricity generation, first in battery manufacturing capacity, and second in geothermal electricity generation.
“Nevada still has huge amounts of untapped clean energy resources to be developed,” said David Bobzien, Director of the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy. “This boost in green bank funding has potential to further bolster Nevada’s clean energy economy and help the state reach its climate goals.”
“This potential investment in clean energy is also an investment in Nevada’s economy,” said Michael Brown, Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. The clean energy sector employs nearly 33,000 people in Nevada, and the state has the largest per capita solar and energy storage workforces in the nation. Directors Brown and Bobzien both sit on NCEF’s Board.
Beyond economic growth and job creation, implementing the clean energy measures in the Inflation Reduction Act for homes and businesses has the potential to significantly reduce energy costs, increase safety in the face of rising temperatures, make the air Nevadans breathe healthier, and address climate change.
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About the Nevada Clean Energy Fund
The Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) is a non-profit organization that provides financing and technical assistance to accelerate clean energy growth in the state, reduce energy costs, create jobs, and address climate change. NCEF was created in 2017 by state legislation as the state’s “green bank,” an institutional model successfully implemented in a dozen other US states.