EPA Gears Up $40 billion Green Spend

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is gearing up to fund
$40 billion of electric grid and sustainability projects. In this
episode of Grid Talk, host Marty Rosenberg talks Zealan Hoover
who is the EPA Administrator’s Senior Advisor for Implementation.
They discuss the range of projects to be funded.


“We’ve received over $100 billion dollars in supplemental
appropriations. A lot of that is for electric system
decarbonization and other climate investments,” Hoover
said. 


The amount far exceeds any effort the agency has undertaken in
its 50-year history. 


“We have received tens of billions of dollars across multiple
programs through the Infrastructure Law and the Inflation
Reduction Act to both accelerate grid decarbonization and to get
more zero emission equipment plugged into that grid.”


States, cities, and tribes are now competing for $4.6 billion
worth of projects, with awards to be announced starting in
July. 


“We’ve received over $30 billion dollars in project proposals so
we will be funding the best of the best. We’re seeing really
innovative proposals that are tailored to the needs of local
communities and states,” Hoover said.


Zealan Hoover has led EPA's agency-wide implementation of more
than $100 billion in programs authorized under the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Prior to
that, he worked in the private sector advising organizations on a
wide range of strategic and operational matters with an emphasis
on decarbonization and managing climate risk. Hoover graduated
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.