U.S. Department of Energy program helps businesses reduce energy costs

Onsite Energy Program contributes to a clean energy economy

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The U.S. Department of Energy hosted a free online webinar on Dec. 17, detailing its new Onsite Energy Program, which provides small and medium-sized businesses with up to $300,000 in grant funding to improve their energy efficiency. About 40 Long Island business owners — including a solar-energy executive from Elmont — took part in the webinar, which was co-hosted by Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, to learn details about the program and how to apply for the funds.

Businesses must meet three requirements to qualify for the program: They must have fewer than 500 employees, less than $100 million in annual gross sales and annual energy costs ranging between $100,000 and $3.5 million. According to the DOE, eligibility requirements can be determined using data from a business’s last completed fiscal year, or the year in which an assessment is undertaken by either a program-sponsored assessor or a private entity.

Clifton Yin, a senior supply chain deployment manager at the DOE, explained that the department allows three options for completing an assessment: the department’s Industrial Training and Assessment Center program, which offers assessments at no cost; Onsite Energy Technical Assistance Partnerships, which provide technical assistance at no cost; or third-party assessors, which are a mix of state programs and private entities.

Assessors’ recommendations, Yin explained, are tailored to a company’s specific needs, and may include roof insulation, rooftop and ground solar units, heat pumps and geothermal systems. The business owner chooses a company to contract with for the project, with the changes in energy technology and infrastructure intended to reduce energy costs and contribute to a clean-energy economy.

In order for business owners to receive federal funding for their projects, they must fund half of the total cost. A business’s share can be supplemented by any non-federal source — state or local loans, private capital, personal loans and utility programs.

The program, which is funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, began accepting applications in 2023. The law was passed by Congress in 2021, and allocated $400 million for the Onsite Energy Program, which is now available to qualifying businesses across the country.

As of now, Yin said, $40 million of the grant funding has been spent on projects for 219 companies in 38 states — 10 of them in New York. The average grant size, he said, is around $260,000.

The program is targeted at small and medium-sized businesses, Yin explained, because, traditionally, they are not provided with much funding for large-scale energy projects like these. “They’re really the foundation of the U.S. industrial base,” he said.

Those who have applied for funding have seen the value of the program, Yin said, because it improves their facilities and makes them more competitive. Some opt for smaller-scale projects that require grants of as little as $10,000 grant, simply to improve minor energy needs, such as lighting. “That can have ripple effects,” he said. “It can make the facility more pleasant to work in, and saves them energy.”

Solages said that she co-hosted the webinar so business owners would have a chance to qualify for federal funding. Because Long Island is at the geographic end of the energy chain, she said, the area has a complex energy-generating dynamic, which makes for high energy costs.

“I’ve had many conversations with business owners, and they all complain about their energy costs,” Solages said. With inflation and climate change, she Sadded, and given the fact that Long Island only has one energy provider, PSEG Long Island, many businesses have a hard time saving on their energy bills.

This program, she said, is intended to be business-friendly. “People think that to be energy-efficient, it’s unaffordable,” Solages said. “It no longer needs to be a choice between economic growth and environmental stability. These priorities are interconnected.”

Dale Davids, an Elmont resident and a small-business owner who attended the webinar, said he was excited about the program. His business, 718 Solar, provides solar panels for residential homes in 47 states. He initially saw the solar energy business as an economic opportunity, but now sees it also as an opportunity to help the environment on a larger scale.

Davids encouraged businesses to take advantage of the grant program if they qualify. “This is how you do your part,” he said. “It makes sense. It’s cleaner energy that costs less. It’s a win for Long Islanders.”

According to Yin, most of the businesses that apply for grant funding are ultimately approved, although he did not have exact numbers. The DOE, he said, has recently improved the application process to make it as accessible to local businesses as possible.

In addition, he explained that the improvement projects usually do not require companies to interrupt operations, although he noted that it depends on the project. He reiterated that the program does not require businesses to use specific contractors for their projects, and they reserve the right to choose their own.

Yin said the DOE is looking not only to reduce energy use and emissions, but also to improve small and medium-sized businesses’ productivity. The goal, he said, is to generate a net positive for both the economy and the environment. “We’re just looking at our small slice at helping small and medium-sized manufacturers save energy reduce costs, be more competitive and be more productive,” he said.

Davids said that while his business focuses primarily on homes, it has a commercial arm that could be contracted by businesses that utilize the program. He added that the benefits of long-term energy independence, which the federal funding for technological changes makes possible, are important for business owners, and he urged them to determine their eligibility.

“It’s huge,” Davids said. “If you have a business that uses a lot of energy, you can get it from a clean source that’s local, such as wind and solar. That’s going to be better for Long Islanders who live here, too, because they won’t have to deal with pollution from businesses.”

The full list of companies that have utilized funds from the program is available on the DOE website, Energy.gov. Additional information about the program can also be found there.