Governor Lee recently announced the members of the new Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council. The council, created by Executive Order 101, aims to position Tennessee as a national leader for nuclear energy innovation and advancement. The appointees, including TDEC Commissioner David Salyers, represent a broad range of industry experience that will build upon the State’s legacy in nuclear innovation and drive continued investment to create a nuclear energy ecosystem for the future of Tennessee. View the list of appointed members here.

U.S. DOE released a fact sheet on the impact of energy investments in Tennessee in coordination with a recent visit from the U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to Tennessee. Secretary Granholm’s visit was part of an electric vehicle road trip across four states in the Southeast to promote the White House’s policies on climate, clean energy investments, and job creation. It is estimated that investments from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in Tennessee will bring up to $900 million for large-scale clean power generation and storage by 2030.

During her visit, the Secretary and White House Senior Advisor Mitch Landrieu visited the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Chattanooga with Mayor Tim Kelley to learn more about its apprentice program. After stopping for a fast charge in Jackson, the Secretary headed to Memphis, where she announced an award of $9.5 million under the Renew America’s Schools Program to Riverview PreK-8 school in South Memphis for a state-of-the-art STEM lab, upgraded HVAC system, energy-efficient lights, and eco-friendly windows. The Secretary also gave a Town Hall address at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis to highlight historic clean energy and infrastructure investments under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the IRA.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Interior launched an interactive map to track the more than $7.3 billion invested thus far from the IIJA, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. With over 1,300 projects nationwide, the map allows users to search projects and sort by program, state or U.S. Territory, tribe, and office.

The U.S. Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have proposed guidance on IRA provisions to expand clean energy tax credits to tax-exempt and government entities. Referred to as direct pay or elective pay, the provision would allow eligible entities to receive a payment equal to the full value of the tax credit for building qualifying clean energy projects. 

Applicable entities can use direct pay for 12 of the IRA tax credits, including for the generation of clean electricity through solar, wind, and battery storage projects; community solar projects that bring clean energy to neighborhood families; the installation of  electric vehicle charging infrastructure; and the purchase of clean vehicles for state or city owned fleets.

In addition to elective pay, the IRS has also proposed guidance on transferability, which allows entities that qualify for a tax credit but are not eligible to use elective pay to transfer all or a portion of the credit to a third-party buyer in exchange for cash. The proposed regulations clarify which entities would be eligible for each credit monetization mechanism, outline the process and timeline to claim and receive an elective payment or transfer a credit, and address numerous other topics. Find additional information on the IRS elective pay and transferability FAQs page here.

Please note that TDEC OEP is not providing tax advice. The content in this newsletter has been prepared for informational purposes only. It is recommended that you consult a tax professional should you have questions regarding the federal tax credits.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) REAP provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to improve energy efficiency. Through funding from the IRA, REAP has increased its grant size to $500,000 for energy efficiency projects and $1 million for renewable energy systems. The current application window closes September 30.

In addition, the USDA has launched the REAP Technical Assistant Grant (TAG) Program to provide technical assistance to Agricultural Producers and Rural Small Businesses applying to REAP. Eligible applicants include local governments, higher education institutions, electric cooperatives, public power entities, and investor-owned utilities. The grant funds may be used for various activities, including recruitment of renewable energy or energy efficiency projects, identification of electrical engineering services, preparation of REAP applications, and preparing reports and assessments necessary to request financial assistance. Applications for the REAP TAG are due August 15.

U.S. DOE launched a competition for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to support the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce. The HBCU Clean Energy Education Prize aims to help develop advanced clean energy programming opportunities and connections for HBCUs across the county.

The prize has three primary goals:

The prize will have two track options, the Inspire Track and the Partnership Track. The Inspire Track supports the development and expansion of HBCU-hosted clean energy summer or academic break programs for K-12 and community college students. Submissions for the Inspire Track are due August 24.

The Partnership Track will support the building of partnerships between HBCUs and other universities, government agencies, and industry leaders to inform new programs and provide professional opportunities that will equip HBCU students with skills for clean energy careers. Submissions for the Partnership Track are anticipated to be due in December.

U.S. DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office has opened applications for round seven of the American-Made Solar Prize, a $4 million prize program for innovations in solar hardware and software technologies and ideas to address challenges to rapid, equitable solar energy deployment.

Students, professors, small-business owners, company staffers, researchers at national laboratories, or anyone else based in the United States with a potentially marketable solar technology solution are eligible to compete and can sign up on the HeroX prize platform. This challenge requires competitors to progress quickly, form private-sector partnerships, and engage customers to bring their ideas to life. Competitors will have access to the American-Made Network to find partners and testing facilities to accelerate their progress.

Competitors will participate in three escalating challenges – the Ready!, Set!, and Go! Contests – as they develop their concept from idea to product. Each competitor can win up to $700,000 in cash and $150,000 in technical support vouchers over the course of the three contests.

Applications are due September 27.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) PACE Program will make $1 billion in funding available to make clean, affordable, and reliable energy accessible to the people of rural America. Under PACE, USDA Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Service will forgive up to 60 percent of loans for renewable energy projects that use wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, or biomass, as well as for renewable energy storage projects. The maximum available loan is $100 million, including the forgivable portion, and the minimum loan is $1 million.

The PACE program is available to eligible applicants that generate electricity for resale to residents in both rural and nonrural areas. However, at least 50 percent of the population served by the proposed renewable energy project must live in communities with populations of 20,000 or fewer. Eligible applicants include corporations, states, territories, municipalities, utility districts, cooperatives, nonprofits, and more.

Letters of interest are due September 29.

The Better Buildings Summer Webinar Series takes on the most pressing topics facing energy professionals, with experts leading the conversations on proven best practices, cost-effective strategies, and innovative new ways to approach sustainability and energy performance. View all upcoming webinars here, or click on any webinar below to register.

The Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs will host the inaugural Southeast Energy Policy Forum at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville from August 16-18.  The event will provide educational content and networking opportunities for private and public sector leaders navigating new energy markets, decarbonization trends, demand-side technologies, and transportation electrification.

 The daily focus areas include:

A few of the featured speakers during the event will include:

Register here.

The Environment, Energy & Recycling Conference will be held in Gatlinburg from August 23-25. The conference is hosted by the Tennessee Recycling Coalition and the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Sessions will cover recycling tools and new technologies, composting, energy programs and initiatives, and environmental regulatory and policy updates. TDEC OEP staff will facilitate a nuclear roundtable and panel on transportation electrification.

On the final day of the conference, the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 2023 Environment and Energy Awards will recognize both businesses that have demonstrated outstanding achievement in environmental protection and enhancement as well as proactive and innovative energy projects. Additionally, an Environmental Excellence Award will be given to the nominee who demonstrates the best overall effort in environmental innovation or improvement, and an Energy Excellence Award will be given to a nominee that has implemented a significant energy innovation or improvement.

View the agenda here and register here.

U.S. DOE recently released the 2023 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER). USEER is a comprehensive study designed to track and understand employment within key energy sectors. The analysis shows that energy jobs grew 3.8% from 2021 to 2022, from a total number of 7.8 million energy jobs in 2021 to 8.1 million in 2022. This growth rate outpaced the overall U.S. employment growth rate of 3.1% in the same period.

According to the report’s Tennessee state fact sheet, energy jobs represented 6.6% of all employment in the state and 2.6% of all energy jobs in the U.S. From 2021 to 2022, energy jobs in the state increased by 7,314 jobs or 3.6%. In the motor vehicles and vehicle components sector, Tennessee employed 106,843 workers or 4.1% of the national total for the sector. Additionally, 4,443 jobs were added between 2021 and 2022 in the motor vehicles and vehicle components sector, an increase of 4.3%, with the largest portion being in manufacturing.

U.S. DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has created a new resource, Myth Busting with EERE: Know the Truth About Clean Energy, which provides evidence-based facts about renewable power and energy efficiency to help dispel myths and misconceptions about clean energy. Visit the page to find out if wind turbines harm birds, whether geothermal heat pumps work in cold climates, if renewable energy can provide power around the clock, and information on other common questions.

Visit the TDEC Office of Energy Programs Website at http://www.tn.gov/environment/energy.

Past Monthly Newsletters: 

June 2023

May 2023

April 2023

For more information or to submit an idea for a future Monthly Energy Edition, contact:

Audrey Jackson, Communications Officer
TDEC Office of Energy Programs
615-917-6683 or audrey.jackson@tn.gov

OR

Alexa Voytek, Deputy Director, OEP Programs
U.S. DOE State Energy Program / Innovation & Transportation / Communications
TDEC Office of Energy Programs
 615-613-1096 or alexa.voytek@tn.gov

OR

Mark Finlay, Senior Energy Analyst, TDEC Office of Energy Programs
615-772-6011 or mark.finlay@tn.gov

Acknowledgement: This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the State Energy Program Award Number DE-EE0009487

Disclaimer: This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government.  Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.