Beneficial Electrification League

November Update

BEL and Our Partners Have a GREAT October for Federal Infrastructure Funding!

In October, BEL stakeholders turned a corner in seeing significant investments from the now two-year old Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), with more than a third of a billion dollars going to grants BEL led, assisted, or joined. Here are three examples:

Appalachian Regional Commissi on (ARC) - BEL was honored to receive a $500k grant from ARC to help spur investment in electric infrastructure in Appalachian areas of Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and New York! The Project is called Appalachian Region Community-Owned Grid Resilient Infrastructure Project (ARCO-GRIP) and we are hitting the ground running. Learn more about the ARISE Project here.

We would like to congratulate six of our sponsors and stakeholders who received DOE GRIP grants including friends on the north end of ARC territory in NY and to the south in GA. We were excited to see some of those we helped cross the finish line - representing over $385 Million in federal share of grants! Way to go to all the teams who put these together, and for those who did not win the GRIP grants there will be future rounds and we have some lessons learned.

We were also pleased to be a part of a coalition of 6 municipal utilities, led by Littleton, MA, to win a competitive $300,000 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program grant to support new infrastructure projects. “The Beneficial Electrification League was instrumental in our success to secure electrification funds. We are grateful for their support and guidance and could not have done it without them! We look forward to working with them more in the future," said Nick Lawler, P.E. General Manager, Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments. Learn about the project here.

Join us on for a Weatherization / Electrification Together Webinar, Dec. 13, 1 - 2:30 pm (EST)

Join us for a webinar on December 13 at 1PM ET as we discuss BEL’s Weatherization and Electrification Together (W/E Together) initiative. Some of our project partners and participants will share case studies of their successes and provide updates, as well as discuss future plans. We hope you can join us! Register now by clicking the link below.

Other Upcoming BEL Events

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

Minnesota Electrification Leadership Summit

December 6, 1 pm - 5 pm (CST)

Grand Rapids, MN

Webinar: Weatherization/Electrification Together

December 13, 1 - 2:30 pm (EST)

Click Here to Register for Upcoming BEL Events

Key BEL Updates

Electrification Summits in New England and Virginia Were Big Successes

BEL recently hosted two more State Electrification Leadership Summit Events. Our New England Summit on October 24th was a big hit, and last week we held our Virginia Summit in Richmond. With these 2 events in the books, that now marks 28 state-wide electrification meetings hosted by BEL so far - with many more still to come. Thanks to all who attended!

Email us at info@be-league.org if you would like to talk about an Electrification Conference in your state.

Electrifying America's School Buses

After a successful first round, the EPA has released its second round of rebate funding for electric school buses! This program was popular in rural areas thanks to support from CoBank and others, and BEL is committed to helping those getting buses apply and have great experiences for kids, parents, and drivers.

The EPA's Clean Bus Initiative provided Long County School District in Georgia with 10 new electric school buses at no cost to taxpayers. The new buses are a big hit, and this opportunity - thanks to partners such as Canoochee EMC - allows the district to take 10 diesel buses out of service and replace them with state-of-the art electric alternatives that are averaging 130 miles per charge. Read more here.

The EPA Clean School Bus 2023 Rebate Program will be open from September 28, 2023 – January 31, 2024. EPA's website for this program can be found here.

BEL Celebrates 5 Years!

The Thanksgiving season is a meaningful time for BEL. We incorporated on Nov 20, 2018, and we cannot believe that it has been 5 years! Through COVID shutdowns and incredible growth, we have worked hard and had fun doing it.

It has also been two years since BEL hired our first full-time employee with the addition of Keith Dennis as President, thus completing a transition from an organization led by board members who worked at outside organizations, to a more independent and internally run organization.

We are incredibly grateful for the support of stakeholders who sponsor us and who allow us the honor of working to advance mutual objectives. The work is meaningful and impactful, and we are looking forward to the next five years with you all!

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: