View as Webpage

Message from the President:

Happy Holidays! BEL and our stakeholders have a busy holiday season and the application deadlines for infrastructure grants seem to have been established by the GRINCH himself! Nonetheless, our team of happy elves are honored to be helping folks secure funding, whether it is formula resilience grants, GRIP letters of interest, PACE final applications, Bureau of Indian Affairs Electrification Grants, or Weatherization Assistance, all of which are currently in process.

With that said, we have a New Years Resolution. In 2024, we will be ramping up our assistance around direct / elective pay tax credits. While the grant applications are fun, we are hoping that many of you are looking forward to taking advantage of tax credits to directly receive payments from Treasury for qualified clean energy investments in 2024. While these tax credits can be stacked with some grants, it may be an opportunity to increase the cost-effectiveness of infrastructure investments without some of the work of securing grants.

To kick off the New Year, we will have a Webinar on Direct Pay Tax Credits with experts from NYU, GeoExchange, BEL, and possibly Treasury on January 4 at 1PM ET. Please register now!

Key BEL Updates

GRIP 2 - BEL continues to support applications ahead of the January 12 deadline for the second round of DOE's Grid Resilience and Infrastructure Partnerships (GRIP) Program. We would like to congratulate six of our sponsors and stakeholders who received DOE Round 1, and with $3.9 B available, we are busy helping the next cohort to apply. If you have questions about strategy for this grant, please reach out.

40101(d) - DOE's Grid Resilience Formula Grants are swinging into full gear. With support from an Appalachian Regional Commission grant, we were able to support over $35M worth of projects for their state's program, called the PA Grid Resilience Grants Program. We are planning to provide support in several other states, especially for utilities that meet the small utility set-aside criteria. Please reach out if you have questions about this program.

USDA PACE - A steady stream of stakeholders are receiving invites from USDA to submit full applications for the PACE program. BEL is assisting the cohort of applicants and learning about processes that will be valuable for both the PACE and New ERA programs.

USDA New ERA - A frequently asked question from cooperative stakeholders to the New ERA program is, "when will USDA notify applicants if they are invited to advance to the next round?" We have been in contact with USDA, who regularly attend our events, and we understand that folks will likely start hearing back in January. That being said, USDA has been asking clarifying questions of applicants, and we remain busy assisting applicants to prepare responses to questions and to be ready to submit full applications if invited.

Clean School Bus Program - Don't forget the deadline for schools to apply for rebates for electric school buses is January 31, 2023. See more at the EPA Website or BEL's ESB page.

BEL 2023 Event Registration Exceeds 3,000 People

Thank you to the 3,000+ people who registered for a BEL event in 2023!

BEL recently hosted a Minnesota Electrification Leadership Summit. Thank you to our event sponsors, and to all who attended!

Check Out Event Agenda and Presentation Materials



With our final State Meeting for the year in the books, BEL has now hosted 29 state-wide leadership summits since our founding two years ago.

Upcoming Events

BEL W/E Together Webinar *Last Chance to Register*

December 12, 2023 at 1PM ET

BEL Direct Pay Webinar

January 4th at 1PM ET

Happy Holidays from a Grateful BEL Team

It has been a banner year for the electric sector, and we hope that you have a peaceful holiday season that you and your loved ones enjoy the benefits of new electric bikes, vehicles, leaf blowers, and more as we look forward to an electrified 2024!

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.