The Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice (BCEJ) is proud to announce the launch of CHARGE (Communities Helping America Renew/ and Grow the Economy), a bold, federally backed energy initiative that will bring solar power, lower utility bills, and new job opportunities to communities burdened with some of the nation’s highest energy costs!
The CHARGE program puts local communities at the heart of the clean energy transition by helping institutions of higher education, especially Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), partner with grassroots organizations to develop solar projects that make solar power accessible to their surrounding communities.
CHARGE is delivered through a partnership that includes the Clean Energy Fund of Texas (lead), the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, National Renewable Energy Laboratory , and the Texas AFL-CIO. The partnership is a recipient of $156 million in funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s $7 billion Solar for All initiative. CHARGE will support the development and expansion of residential-serving community solar and battery storage projects across 18 states and Washington, D.C. Together, we bring some of the nation’s top experts in the next-generation clean energy sector, including scientists, industry leaders, financial experts, labor and workforce experts, and community engagement experts.
The program partnership, acting as a central hub, will provide scalable support to “project nodes”. Each project node will include an institution of higher education and a local Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) that will be supported to bring solar to their surrounding community. Each node will receive technical assistance that will include common templates and tools, project development support, workforce training, and capacity building.
CHARGE focuses on campus-community partnerships in 19 states across EPA Regions 6, 4 and 3 centered around local engagement to reach households that bear some of the highest energy costs in the nation.
This focus will:
CHARGE provides grants and low-cost, flexible financing awarded to competitively selected applicants (potential project nodes) to support the development of community solar projects. CHARGE participation takes place across three Phases.
This approach will establish campus-community project nodes at each selected MSI, ultimately delivering solar benefits to over 8,800 households. As participants advance through three competitive phases, they will receive support from technical experts, funding advisors, and community engagement specialists to build community capacity and prepare projects for implementation.
CHARGE is currently taking applications for a small number of project nodes that elect to be part of the CHARGE program refinement and learning process!
Selected pilots will represent a range of geography, ownership structures, and technology types. This group of early projects will be invited to work closely with the CHARGE hub to test and refine proposed program structures and provide user feedback. Participating in the pilot provides an opportunity for nodes to start work more immediately as well as shape the program’s design and implementation.
Step 1: Interested/Have questions? Please fill out the CHARGE program interest form. We will be in contact with you to set up an introductory meeting.
Step 2: After the initial meeting, interested institutions may apply by creating an online account and completing an online application before August 30, 2025. Following the launch of the pilot class, CHARGE will take in additional applications through a series of intake windows beginning January 2026 and extending through mid-2027.
For General Questions:
Climate Fund of Texas : tmorales@txcef.org
Bullard Center: Info@bullard.center
