View as Webpage

BEL Year in Review

Message from the President:

It has also been more than two years since I joined BEL as our first full-time employee, and we have been busy! I’m incredibly proud of our immense achievements over the past year and am more optimistic than ever about the significant positive impact that BEL continues to have on the industry. Our mission has never been more relevant or within reach. Working together, we remain dedicated to promoting beneficial electrification of the economy.

Please take a moment to download our Year in Review - highlights are below.

-Keith Dennis, BEL President

Key 2023 Accomplishments

• Technical assistance and funding application support
• Staff resource additions
• New partnerships
• Nine collaborative state-level meetings
• Dozens of new sponsors

Meet The Team

The BEL team more than doubled in 2023. We couldn’t be more excited to grow our capabilities and industry impact in the years to come.

Keith Dennis

President

Alex Hofmann

Chief Strategy and Operations Officer

Anita Moreno

Director, W/E Together

Doug Fitzmorris

Beneficial Electrification Analyst

Jordan Nachbar

Beneficial Electrification

Program Manager

Read More About the BEL Team

Notable Successes in 2023

Facilitating Impactful Proposals

BEL assisted many organizations with proposals for USDA’s PACE and New ERA programs, including at least 100 projects worth $13B in total cost, totaling 4,000 MW solar, 2,000 MW wind, 2,000 MW storage and annual GHG reduction of 22M+ tons.

Weatherization / Electrification Together

Thanks to generous funding from the Wells Fargo Foundation, BEL's W/E Together Initiative is growing. Regional efforts continue to emerge as federal rebates for home electrification roll out across the country.

Appalachian Regional Committee (ARC)

BEL received a $500k grant from ARC to help spur investment in electric infrastructure in GA, TN, PA, and NY. We will work closely with local and regional partners to develop feasibility studies and metrics for evaluating, and ultimately applying for, relevant federal funding programs.

Electric School Buses

With CoBank’s support, BEL joined with co-op & municipal utilities across the county to spur more than a billion dollars in rebate applications to the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program.

EECBG

BEL was pleased to join a coalition of six municipal utilities, led by Littleton, MA, to win a competitive $300,000 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program grant to build a framework for electrification and load management that targets utility customers in disadvantaged communities.

Electric-to-Ammonia Production

BEL has received funding for an effort supporting the electrification of ammonia production, a process using electricity instead of natural gas. This project aims to increase awareness about use cases and the potential economic and environmental benefits of electrifying ammonia production.

Tribal Assistance

BEL is facilitating partnerships between tribal organizations and their electric cooperatives and utility partners to apply for BIA tribal electrification grants and DOE electrification programs.

2023 Events

BEL held nine state-level events in Minnesota, Virginia, New England, Kentucky, Nebraska, Kansas, North Carolina, and Georgia. These events reached more than 600 people in-person and hundreds more virtually. At these forums, key stakeholders came together to discuss new technologies, products, programs, and learnings. BEL leverages its experience and expertise to create an event that provides relevant information, highlights new opportunities, and brings together organizations, helping to increase the thoughtfulness, efficacy, and reach of statewide beneficial electrification efforts.

BEL also hosted ten webinars spanning topics from W/E Together, water heaters, building electrification, DOE and USDA funding opportunities, tax policy, and electric school buses.

Thanks to all who attended!

A Growing Sponsor Base

We are thankful for our 2023 sponsors; without you we would not be able to carry out our mission. Please be sure to budget for BEL sponsorship in 2024 and thank you for your support!

BEL welcomes Adaora Ifebigh to Board of Directors!

BEL Board Chair Gary Connett is pleased to announce that Adaora Ifebigh has agreed to join the Board, bringing with her over 15 years of industry and leadership experience in energy access and community impact work in areas of persistent poverty. Adaora is the Senior Director of Impact at Sol System and leads efforts to execute Sol’s comprehensive impact and infrastructure strategy. She previously worked at NRECA as Program Director for Energy Access, where she started and led the Advancing Energy Access for All initiative, which supported cooperatives as they holistically serve their members, especially low- and moderate-income households. She also has experience at DOE's ARPA-e, where she led a program portfolio of more than 23 energy research and development awards worth $77M with awardees across the education, corporate and non-profit sectors.

Ms. Ifebigh holds a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University and a Master of Business Administration from Florida International University.

Electric School Bus Rebate Application Due Jan. 31

Join Our Call with EPA on Jan. 9th at 2PM

With the EPA’s Clean School Bus Rebate program being open for its second round until January 31st, interested schools are looking to coordinate with their local utilities using the EPA’s new guidance. Rebates are available for up to $345,000 per electric school bus.

Notably, for this round of rebates, EPA has added requirements for schools to coordinate with utilities via an "Electric Utilities Partnership Template" available at their website. EPA is working to clarify the use of this document, specifically how it should foster a conversation, but not hold up applications. Visit EPA's Clean School Bus Rebate Program Web Page.

Please join us on Jan. 9th at 2PM ET for a discussion of this opportunity and the latest guidance from EPA on how this program will work, including EPA's perspective on the Utility Partnership Template. We will also be reviewing some upcoming federal funding opportunities and providing some updates for our regular municipal electric utility cohort, but this meeting is open, and all utilities are welcome to participate.

Please see our 2023 EPA Clean School Bus Rebate Program Overview and Talking to Your Utility about ESBs resources on our Web page.

Last Chance to Register: Join us on for a Webinar Jan. 4 - The Opportunity of Direct Pay Tax Credits

With new changes to tax law, non-profit organizations are now able to directly take advantage of tax credits via direct payments from the US Treasury for eligible clean energy investments. These credits can be for up to 40% or more of total project cost. While these tax credits can be stacked with select grants, they may be an opportunity to increase the cost-effectiveness of infrastructure investments without some of the additional work required for the grant securing process. Please join us for a discussion of this opportunity and the latest guidance from Treasury on how this program will work.

Join us for a webinar on January 4 at 1 PM Eastern.

Upcoming BEL Events

Below is a list of upcoming in-person and virtual events. We hope you can join us!

Webinar - Direct Pay Tax Credits

January 4, 2024

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm Eastern

Webinar - Clean School Bus Update and Other Electric Sector Updates

January 9th

2:00 - 3:30 PM Eastern

Consider Becoming a BEL Member-Sponsor in 2024

BEL provides a unique platform for collaboration and information sharing among the diverse sectors engaged in the energy transition. In the last year, BEL has added dozens of new member-sponsors, including a growing number of municipal utilities. By joining as a member-sponsor, your organization can:  



• Amplify your voice to help shape state and federal policy priorities 
• Learn from other utility professionals deploying new technologies and programs 
• Access information on policy initiatives and opportunities 
• Access current research on electrification 
• Increase visibility of your utility’s innovation and programs 

For information on sponsorship of BEL, please click below.

BEL is a 501(c)3 organization with Silver status as a charitable organization on Guidestar.