Sustainable Jersey Community Energy Plan Grants and IRA Direct Pay

Course Description

Poornima Gupta and Tracy Woods of Sustainable Jersey explain the Community Energy Plan Implementation Grant, which focuses on energy equity, new construction, and innovation, and how Sustainable Jersey can provide support to help municipalities complete community energy plans. This initiative also helps municipalities earn points in the Sustainable Jersey Certification Program and leverages the direct pay program for significant tax credits on clean energy projects.

Sustainable Jersey also provides support through tools like model RFP templates and data hubs.

Recorded August 15, 2024.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the components of a Community Energy Plan or CEP.
• Understand how to qualify for and benefit from the Community Energy Plan Implementation Grant.
• Learn to effectively use BPU’s funding for energy projects in critical sectors.
• Explore how to apply the direct pay program and other incentives to reduce clean energy project costs.

About the Instructor:

Poornima Gupta is a Research and Project Specialist in the Sustainable Jersey Energy Team. Her responsibilities include assisting municipalities in completing Sustainable Jersey’s energy actions. Her interests lie in fostering climate-conscious, ecosystem-regenerative sustainable growth and development in communities. Prior to joining Sustainable Jersey, she has experience working with government departments and international agencies like World Bank, UN-Habitat, and US-AID, for the advancement of sustainable urban development in Indian municipalities. She has worked on projects in the areas of municipal waste management, environmental impact assessments, environmental compliance, and habitat conservation.

Tracey Woods works with the Sustainable Jersey Energy Team as a Senior Energy Program Manager. Her responsibilities include assisting municipal leadership and green team members in completing Sustainable Jersey’s energy actions and helping create guidance documents to aid municipalities in completing sustainability projects. In addition to a professional background in project management, Tracey is a long-time green team leader. Her public service experience guides her work helping local governments move forward on sustainability projects. Tracey has been awarded the New Jersey Governor’s Jefferson Award for Public Service.

Course Outline

• About Sustainable Jersey

• Overview of Community Energy Plan Grants (CEPG) Program

• Highlights from Program Year 2

• Sustainable Jersey Planning Resources and Technical Assistance for Program Awardees

• Bringing the Benefits of Direct (Elective) Pay Credits Under Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Tax to Municipalities and School Districts

• Exam