Page updated 3/4/2024
Work with your Partners in Energy facilitator to promote residential and business resources that are available to your communities now.
Work with your state energy office and other grant recipients to create community engagement plans that will inform future program and project design.
Supplement funding with local resources
- Technical support: Since available incentives and funding options are quite complex and unique to the customer and project, residents and businesses may feel overwhelmed. By providing an easy and local resource for getting questions answered, the municipality can play an important role in increasing the number of individuals who take advantage of these incentives. We recommend providing a phone number and email address for locals to contact for support and following up on these inquiries within 24 hours.
- Bonus rebates: Even with the new federal incentives, your community members may still not be motivated or be able to afford to make energy improvements. Consider setting up a local rebate program to supplement the federal and utility incentives, focusing on making it easy to stack the local rebates on the existing incentives.
- Westminster, CO took this approach by providing businesses up to $1,500 in rebates to fund projects up to 75% of the total cost.
- St. Louis Park, MN created their Climate Champions program, which offers cost-sharing for different buildings in their community (e.g., business, multifamily, and residential) to support energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements.
- Connect residents and businesses with local contractors.
Work with your economic and community development departments to leverage funding for local economic development.