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Local Government

Every day residents, businesses, schools, and facility managers at institutions make energy choices:

  • electricity from clean sources

  • installing on-site energy generation

  • choosing fuel efficient or electric vehicles

  • building energy efficiency and conservation

  • building heating and cooling technologies
     

Local governments can influence those choices by:

  • Leading by example

  • Educating constituents about options and the impacts of energy choices

  • Incentivizing preferred choices

  • Planning for a low-carbon future with vision, goals and timelined actions

  • Requiring new construction consistent with the community's goals

  • Providing enabling infrastructure that promotes a low-carbon electric community

  • Being sensitive to any short term financial impacts this transition might create

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This page provides resources for local governments to continue their role as climate action leaders.

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Federal Funding

Federal grant opportunities that we know are still active

PA Programs

Pennsylvania programs that support local government climate action

County Programs

Programs in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. Also resources from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC)

Plans

Climate Action and Energy Transition Plans - examples, templates, training and tech assistance

Enabling Policy

Examples of ordinances that promote low-carbon choices in the community

Community Education

Resources to help local governments share reliable information about energy, transportation, lighting, heating and expected impacts

On The Horizon

A few things that other states have done and might be available to us in Pennsylvania in the future

EACs

Environmental Advisory Committees (EACs) are often tasked with recommending actions for the municipal government and community engagement

Capitol Building

Federal Funding

Retrofits or new construction. Heat pump HVAC, Smart Thermostats, occupied sensor lighting, on-site/rooftop solar, energy audits.

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Visit the Tax Exempt page for Building Upgrade funding.

 

Elective-Pay is available for weatherization, energy efficiency upgrades, HVAC upgrades, solar installations, the purchase of electric vehicles, etc. to entities that do not pay taxes.

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Municipal vehicles, police, fire, snow removal, yard or street vehicles, trash. EV charging stations and infrastructure. â€‹The following grant is available to municipalities that have 3 or more class 6 or 7 trucks:

EPA’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicle grant

Image by Andre Frueh

Pennsylvania Programs

The following resources and programs are available from the PA Department of Environmental Protection:

Experts Panel
Binder and Files

Climate Action & Energy Transition Plans

Many municipalities have developed a Climate Action Plan (CAP) or Energy Transition Plan (ETP) for their communities. Often this responsibility is given to an Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) or a professional planner is contracted or college students are engaged as part of the Local Climate Action Plan (LCAP) program run by the PA DEP.

 

This section is designed to share examples, templates, training session recordings so that your community doesn't need to start at ground-zero for this climate or energy planning project.

Plan Development Assistance
Plan Examples

PACleanEnergy.com hosts a wiki of Climate and Energy Action Plans across PA. Below is a snapshot.

Plan Templates
Binder and Files

Enabling Policy

Very few township or borough elected officials are interested in mandating climate actions, but influencing buying decisions can take place through enabling policies and projects. Like helping to make EV charging more accessible, or reducing the permitting costs and timelines for on-site solar projects, or requesting that new construction consider future owners that want to install EV chargers or rooftop solar or passive solar aspects.

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Here is a growing list of examples in southeast PA and nearby.

Policy Examples

PACleanEnergy.com hosts a wiki of Enabling Polies across PA. Below is a snapshot.

Reading a Newspaper

Sign Up to Stay Informed

Contacts on the CACE team, Robin Mann, Shawn Smolsky

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