Biden Announces $7 Billion In Grants For Solar Projects

President Joe Biden on Monday will celebrate Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in grants for residential solar projects that will power nearly a million low-income households, the White House said.

The announcement kicks off a week of activities aimed at touting the Biden administration's record on climate change.

Biden will reveal the funding during a trip to Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia, where he will also announce that applications are open to join the American Climate Corps, a program to prepare young people for jobs in climate-related industries.

Young voters, who tend to be more concerned about climate change, are a key constituency for Biden, a Democrat, as he prepares to face former President Donald Trump, a Republican, in the November presidential election.

The $7 billion of solar funding through the Environmental Protection Agency's Solar for All grant competition was included in Biden's landmark climate change law, the Inflation Reduction Act. It will create 200,000 jobs and save households in the program about $400 a year, according to the White House.

Grant recipients include 60 state and local agencies and non-profits with programs to help residents in poor communities go solar and save on their power bills. The winners include several organizations with plans to provide solar to native American households in states including Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.

Residential solar has long been regarded as difficult to access for lower-income Americans because of its high upfront cost and because less affluent people tend to rent their homes or live in apartment buildings.