South Carolina Office of Resilience (SCOR) Secures EPA Funding for Solar for All Program

The South Carolina Office of Resilience (SCOR) is pleased to announce that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to award the office a Solar for All grant in the amount of $124,440,000. This significant investment aligns with SCOR's mission to enhance the state's ability to anticipate, absorb, recover, and thrive in the face of environmental changes and natural disasters.

Through the Solar for All grant, SCOR will implement solar programs that offer multiple benefits to communities, the economy, and the environment across South Carolina. The primary objectives of the program include expanding residential distributed solar and solar energy programs, providing resilient power solutions, diversifying the grid, and generating wealth and job opportunities within local communities.

“Ensuring a diversified mix of energy generation is a critical factor for increasing communities’ resilience to natural hazards,” said Chief Resilience Officer Ben Duncan. “SCOR draws on its disaster recovery housing program expertise and recognizes that expanding solar and other energy efficiency measures will help reduce the energy burden on low-income and disadvantaged households. SCOR is excited to engage and partner with state and local government agencies, community organizations, utilities, and other stakeholders to expand access to solar in South Carolina.”

SCOR's Solar for All program will be developed and implemented across four main areas:

1. SC Community Solar Initiative: Implement community-based solar projects to increase diversification of energy resources.
2. SC Solar Innovation Fund: Establish a grant program to support creative solutions such as solar and storage infrastructure at multi-family affordable housing facilities and community-serving facilities, community resilience hubs, and new technologies such as solar canopies.
3. Workforce Training and Development: Invest in high-quality job opportunities and effective solar workforce training programs statewide.
4. Coordination with Energy Efficiency Programs: Partner with home energy efficiency and weatherization programs to coordinate activities and align efforts to increase resilience  for low-income and disadvantaged households and communities.

SCOR’s application for the grant was developed with input from statewide officials, state agencies, utilities, academic institutions, local governments, and NGOs. SCOR will utilize the first-year planning period to further engage communities, state and local agency partners, utilities, and other organizations to inform final program design.

SCOR is grateful for the support and partnership of the EPA in advancing solutions for building a resilient future for South Carolina.

For more information, please contact Carissa Cochrane at (803) 413-3213 or carissa.cochrane@scor.sc.gov.

About SCOR:

The South Carolina Office of Resilience (SCOR) is committed to enhancing the state's ability to anticipate, absorb, recover, and thrive in the face of environmental changes and natural disasters. Through strategic initiatives and partnerships, SCOR aims to build a resilient future for all South Carolinians.