Cleveland and Painesville, Ohio, as well as Cuyahoga County, Ohio, are among recipients that will receive U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Climate Pollution Reduction Grants.
As a part of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants, Cuyahoga County will receive $30 million, the City of Cleveland will receive $20 million, and the City of Painesville will receive $80 million in grant funding.
Applications were submitted by entities in all states and Puerto Rico plus the District of Columbia, requesting a total of nearly $33 billion in funding. The EPA selected a total of 25 applications to fund a diverse range of projects in 30 states. T
The EPA CPRG funding will enable an unprecedented amount of brownfield and landfill solar to be developed in Northeast Ohio within a timeframe that will put the region on a pathway toward achieving its 2030 and 2050 emissions reduction goals, a July 22 news release from Cuyahoga County noted.
“The City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, and the City of Painesville are uniquely positioned to implement utility-scale solar projects as each local government operates its own municipal utility,” the news release noted.
Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland will collaborate to deploy 28 megawatts of renewable energy through five brownfield and landfill solar projects.
Two of these projects will provide behind-the-meter electricity to two critical City and County facilities, the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, and the future Cuyahoga County Central Services complex.
Three of these projects will directly supply the customers of Cleveland Public Power (CPP) and Cuyahoga Green Energy. The City of Cleveland also plans to utilize funding to support a community park and public art project.
Painesville Municipal Electric plans to replace its coal-fired power plant, which has been operational since 1888 and currently functions as a peaking plant, with a 35 MW solar installation and a 10 MW battery backup system.
This change is driven by Ohio EPA mandates to reduce hazardous air pollutants and aims to lower peak electric loads and costs while reducing harmful emissions.
The solar installation will be situated on a multi-acre brownfield site in the City of Painesville.
The new solar array, supported by CPRG funding, will help Painesville Municipal Electric reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, stabilize operating costs, and decrease peak electric loads, potentially eliminating the need for the coal plant, the news release said.
“The City of Painesville is pleased to receive the CPRG grant funding. The grant is instrumental to the sustainability of our public power system. Since 1888, the City of Painesville has been providing reliable power,” said Painesville City Manager Douglas Lewis.
“Since we are limited to generating power at our coal-powered plant at peak times, the funding will enable us to transfer to an environmentally friendly, efficient, and cost-effective source of power for our residents," he said.
"An additional benefit is that the grant will repurpose a large brownfield site near the lake, turning it into solar fields with areas for biking trails and wildlife. Not only will this transition help the immediate environment, but it will benefit the larger community for generations to come.”
"This historic investment in Cleveland and our municipal electric utility, Cleveland Public Power, will reduce the cost of electricity for our residents, help power our airport operations, and benefit community members by transforming landfills and brownfields into "brightfields" that generate power from the sun," said Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb. "It is true climate justice to bring the financial and health benefits of a clean and green economy into the homes of communities like Cleveland that have seen decades of economic disinvestment."
