• The Rural Energy Start Up Program (RESP) issued awards. Awards were made in two rounds: the first round awarded was for applications submitted by the original deadline in January, and the second round awarded was for applications submitted by the extended deadline in March.
• $1,474,298.02 was awarded to 29 local rural governments across Wisconsin for energy planning, renewable resource planning, and audits and building upgrades. 
• Subscribe to Docket 9714-FG-2023 to receive updates on RESP and visit the website to learn more about the program. 
• Visit the links below to review the Awards Orders. 

• The application period for the program closed on February 16, 2024. OEI received 20 applications from 17 electric utilities: 12 cooperatives, four municipal utilities, and one investor-owned utility. In total, they requested just over the $9.7 million budget available in the inaugural grant round. 
• Applicants submitted additional, project-specific information as part of the Phase Two application process on April 5, 2024.  
• The Commission is expected to make decisions on the grant awards in the spring of 2024. In person and virtual attendance options are available. See the PSC Events Calendar for more information. 
• Subscribe to Docket 9713-FG-2022 to receive updates on the Grid Resilience Program. 

• Starting on June 1, residential customers will no longer need to submit an application to receive Focus on Energy Rebates for efficient heating and cooling equipment. Instead, customers will automatically receive a discount at the time of purchase if the HVAC contractor purchases qualified equipment from a participating distributor. The list of participating distributors will be regularly updated.
• This streamlined process should allow more customers to receive discounts and lead to the installation of more high-efficiency equipment.
• A comprehensive list of qualifying equipment, available discounts, and participating distributors can be found at the link below.

• On May 22 at 11 am, check out a webinar from Slipstream for facility owners to understand the types of energy and building management systems available for monitoring the energy performance of larger Commercial and Industrial or government buildings. Learn how these systems can give you the data and information you need to set and manage your energy goals. Register using the link below. 

• Throughout January and February 2024, in-person and virtual stakeholder engagement events were held to discuss the Home Energy Rebates program. From the feedback received at these events, the program planning team was able to prepare a draft for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).  
• The application and memorandum were issued for public comment.
• The Public Service Commission (Commission) then received and reviewed the draft application, the memorandum outlining key policy decisions, and the comments received during the public comment period at their open meeting on April 25, 2024, and approved the submission of the application to the DOE.  
• Wisconsin’s applications for both programs were submitted to DOE in early May. 
• Pending Department of Energy approval of Wisconsin’s proposed program, residents can expect rebates to be available as early as late-summer, 2024. 
• Visit the links below to review the DOE Press Release and learn more about these rebates. 

Wisconsin Local Government Climate Coalition Resilient and Efficient Buildings Municipal Support Program

• The Wisconsin Local Government Climate Coalition (WLGCC) will be offering a Resilient and Efficient Buildings Municipal Support Program, starting spring of 2024.  
• This program will facilitate a network of local governments that meet virtually every 2-3 months to identify and discuss barriers, solutions, and resources to help local communities to make their building stock more resilient and efficient. Based on this input, the project team will produce a roadmap for local governments, as well as provide other resources and assistance. 
• All local governments are welcome. Please email info@wlgcc.org if you are interested in participating.
• Visit the link below to learn more about WLGCC.

• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) program, which provides $225 million in competitive grant funding to support critical investments such as repairs, infrastructure improvements, upgrades to increase resilience, and other services for low-and moderate-income residents of manufactured housing units and manufactured housing communities.  
• Eligible entities to apply include: 
• State governments 
• Local governments 
• Tribes 
• Community development financing institutions 
• Non-profits 
• Cooperatives 
• Resident-owned manufactured housing communities 
• Applications must be submitted on 11:59pm ET on June 5, 2024 . 
• Visit the link below to learn more about this funding opportunity and to review the series of webinars held by HUD reviewing the Notice of Funding Opportunity and application requirements. 

• On April 25, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity announced a new $1 million storage technical assistance voucher program that is intended to spur innovations in Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) technologies and increase LDES project deployments. 
• The first voucher opportunity will provide $50-150k in services to technology innovators, including vendors and manufacturers. 
• The second voucher opportunity will provide $50-150K of in-kind support to a variety of entities including state or local governments to provide technical assistance on siting/permitting, storage project road mapping, regional modeling, technical feasibility studies, community engagement and more. 
• Applications for entities wanting to serve as technical assistance providers are due on June 6, 2024. 
• Visit the link below to learn more about this funding opportunity.

• Join WPS and Slipstream June 12th at Lambeau Field for their Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Forum, where you can gain insights into new strategies and techniques to save energy and costs in commercial and industrial buildings. Focus areas for this event include: 
• Compressed air efficiency  
• Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) 
• Focus on Energy and federal incentives 
• A presentation of efficiency improvements at Lambeau Field, with an optional stadium tour! 
• Visit the link below to learn more. 

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently opened the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles program, and anticipates awarding up to $932 million in competitive grant funding under the 2024 program.
• This program will be accepting applications nationwide to fund the replacement of existing non-zero-emission Class 6 and 7 heavy-duty vehicles with zero-emission Class 6 and 7 heavy-duty vehicles. 
• Eligible activities under this program include: 
• The incremental cost of replacing a non-zero-emission Class 6/7 heavy-duty vehicle with an eligible Class 6/7 zero-emission vehicle 
• The purchase and installation of refueling infrastructure that will support vehicles replaced under this program 
• Driver/mechanic training related to the maintenance and operation of new technologies, and vehicle warranties 
• Costs directly related to the implementation, management, and oversight of the project, including recipient and subrecipient personnel, benefits, contractual services, consulting on vehicle deployments, travel, supplies, and indirect costs 
• Eligible applicants under this program include: 
• States, including U.S. territories 
• Municipalities, including public school districts 
• Indian tribes 
• Nonprofit school transportation associations 
• Application packages must be submitted electronically to the EPA through Grants.gov no later than 11:59pm ET on Wednesday, July 25, 2024 to be considered for funding. 
• Visit the links below to learn more about this funding opportunity.

• Wisconsin Emergency Management and the Department of Administration's Division of Enterprise Technology (DET) opened a grant application on May 15 for government agencies at risk of a cybersecurity incident due to the age or conditions of their IT infrastructure. 
• Eligible applicants include: 
• Counties 
• Municipalities 
• Authorized tribal governments and organizations 
• School districts 
• Other public entities 
• Applicants must demonstrate a need for cybersecurity improvements based on the results of a vulnerability scan, previous impactful cybersecurity incidents, legal mandates or audit findings, and/or current use of unsupported systems. 
• The cost share has been waived in this first round of funding and applications are due August 15, 2024.
• Visit the link below to learn more about this funding opportunity. 

• The CyberForce Program aims to inspire and develop the next generation of cyber defenders for the energy sector through hands-on competitions, webinars, learning resources, and career fairs.  
• Students, professors, and industry and government organizations are encouraged to participate to raise awareness of the nexus between critical infrastructure and cybersecurity through competitions. 
• Visit the link below to learn more about the CyberForce program.

• The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) recently released a Notice of Intent to issue over $100 million for field demonstrations and other research. This funding will enhance grid planning and operation and help optimize systems with grid-connected buildings and vehicles powered by clean, distributed energy generation. These upgrades will show and show these advanced technologies to be reliable, secure, and ready to support a clean energy economy. 
• EERE intends to issue these funds through three separate, competitively awarded funding opportunity announcements (FOA’s): 
• Connected Communities 2.0 (DE-FOA-0003136) 
• Solar Technologies’ Rapid Integration and Validation for Energy Systems (DE-FOA-0003331) 
• Super Truck Charge (DE-FOA-0003344) 
• Visit the link below to learn more about this Notice of Intent.

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR program with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Residential Retrofits for Energy Equity initiative have organized a workshop series and resource center to support community-based organizations, small businesses, and local governments in deploying equitable efficient electric home upgrades. 
• Topics covered in the workshop series include: grant funding for workforce development, addressing health and safety roadblocks, leveraging the ENERGY STAR Home Upgrade marketing platform and Service Provider Partnership, stacking and braiding with the Inflation Reduction Act Funds e.g. home electrification appliance rebates and energy affordability considerations for electrification. 
• To receive periodic updates and information about the workshops being held, click here. 
• Visit the link below to learn more about this workshop series. 

• In the Fall of 2023, Mount Horeb High School won the Focus on Energy’s Renew Our School’s challenge, one of only two schools in Wisconsin to successfully complete the annual challenge.  
• The Renew Our Schools Challenge gives students and staff the opportunity to learn and take charge of energy conservation efforts in their schools by providing training and equipment. This includes the installation of an e-gauge energy monitoring system, that tracks and reports real-time energy use so conservation efforts can be monitored once schools enter the challenge. 
• Mount Horeb High School’s Energy Team measured the energy usage in 20 classrooms using light meters and thermometers, and then set goals based on their audit and e-gauge data. From there, they spent the time developing and teaching lesson plans to classes, making announcements, presenting to staff at meetings, making signs encouraging energy saving behaviors, and focusing on changing what they could control (turning lights off and shutting down computers). These actions resulted in reducing the building energy consumption by 2.6%. 
• Visit the links below to learn more about Mount Horeb's project and the Renew Our Schools program.