Energy is more than a policy issue. It is an equity issue. The Delaware Sustainable Energy Utilities (DESEU) Empowerment Grants seek to implement impactful and innovative energy equity projects in historically underserved communities. These grants focus on energy efficiency, clean, renewable energy, climate resiliency, and/or economic development and include direct investment in community outreach, education, and engagement.
The Energy Equity Fund-Empowerment Grant Office (EEF-EGO) has lofty goals that recognize the intersection of environmental and health and the need for collaboration within communities to mobilize, implement, and sustain gains. The program aims to:
- Provide clean, cost-saving energy for low- and moderate-income communities.
- Align energy-efficient homes with healthy and safe homes.
- Improve energy efficiency for small businesses, community-based organizations, and local non-profits.
- Create access to clean, renewable energy for low- and moderate-income communities.
- Build pathways for education and training of a diverse clean energy and energy efficiency workforce, especially in underserved communities
Beyond the energy benefits achievable through the Home Performance program the DESEU grants will deliver, the non-energy benefits are vitally important components of these Empowerment Grants. To that end, the DESEU grants coordinate efforts across multiple agencies to address housing conditions, improve energy efficiency, and reduce energy burden, to improve the health of individuals living in these homes.
The Empowerment Grants ultimately provide services to low- to moderate-income families. Family income must be at or below 80% of the State Median Income ($90,900 for a family of four), or, at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Guideline ($83,250 for a family of four). Grantees must document the procedures used to validate income or determine whether the participant lives in a specific geographic target area.
Our role
We provide technical assistance and evaluation capacity building to help to understand how energy policy intersects with the social determinants of health.
Learn more about the program at: https://energyequityfund.org/