PLEASE NOTE ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH THE COMPLETED COVID19 PARTICIPATION TERMS AND CONDITIONS FORM.

CLEAN ENERGY PROGRAM BACKGROUND

The Clean Energy Program, Energy Efficiency Grant award joins ongoing efforts and programs created by Prince George’s County to uplift neighborhoods that face economic, health, public safety and educational challenges. This grant award, coupled with state energy incentives, provides assistance to residents to adopt energy-efficiency measures in nine designated neighborhoods, classified as Energy Resiliency Communities (ERCs). 

Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 21 defines resilience as "the ability to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to changing conditions and withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions". From an energy perspective, resiliency is the ability to prepare for and adapt to utility disruptions and recover quickly from these disruptions. It involves the deployment of distributed energy resources such as energy efficiency, renewable energy such as solar PV and thermal, battery storage, and micro-grids.

The ERCs evolved from a County initiative, formerly known as Transforming Neighborhoods Initiative (TNI), which utilized several metric indicators such as education, public safety, and employment to identify key neighborhoods across the County needing holistic uplifting.

The Clean Energy Program builds on Maryland and Prince George’s County’s energy-efficiency and carbon reduction goals and seeks to help alleviate efficiency challenges faced by County residents. Taking the link between energy efficiency and social inequality to heart and helping to break the cycle of energy inefficiency and energy poverty, the Clean Energy Programs are to assist ERC residents with adopting energy efficiency measures in their homes.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

Funds can be used to offset the costs of various energy efficiency and retrofitting measures, and for professional services needed to address barriers and transform to higher efficiency and of renewable energy adoption (solar PV and solar water heater) for the respective property. 

Participants of the Clean Energy Program are required to apply to the applicable EmPOWER Maryland incentive program: for market rate applicants, Pepco's Home performance with ENERGY STAR Program, or for income-qualified applicants, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development's (DHCD) Low Income Energy Efficiency Program (LIEEP).

Grants will be available to offset the costs of measures as recommended by a home energy assessment, to facilitate implementation of efficiency measures - funds may also be used to address challenges that would prevent the adoption of recommended efficiency measures. Upon completion of energy efficiency upgrades, residents in ERC designated communities may apply for solar PV and/or solar water heater grants. 

1. ENERGY EFFICIENCY GRANT

 Click Here to Download Energy Efficiency Application

The Clean Energy Program, Energy Efficiency grant award provides up to $7,500 in funds for residential energy efficiency measures, in addition to Pepco and Washington Gas incentives. The maximum grant award amount is $7,500 (for gas and electric incentives), of which $5,000 can be allocated towards electric incentives and $2,500 toward natural gas incentives, and up to 50% of total grant award amount ($3,750) can be allocated towards air sealing and insulation (does not include ancillary equipment like baffles/ventilation). 

ENERGY EFFICIENCY GRANT ELIGIBILITY

To qualify for the grant award, residents must:

1. Be a Prince George’s County resident.
2. Be a Pepco and/or be a Washington Gas customer.

To be eligible for this grant award, you will need to show proof of being a Pepco customer, as evidenced by a recent copy (within the last 3 months) of your electric utility bill if applying for electric incentives only; or be both Pepco and Washington Gas customer if applying for both electric and gas incentives.  Paper copies of the bills are typically mailed to the customer address on record.  For Pepco customers with internet access, account information is available via the Pepco’s account portal: https://bit.ly/30W7LLd , and Washington Gas customers can access their accounts via the Washington Gas’ account portal: https://bit.ly/2mwTUWZ.

To confirm you are in one of the ERC communities, you must look up your address by using the ERC Address Locator: (https://bit.ly/3aZStLH). Please note the ERC Address Locator is the definitive tool for determining the eligibility of an application. 

2. SOLAR ENERGY GRANT

This grant award, coupled with state energy incentives, provides assistance to residents to access the benefits of solar photovoltaic (PV) and/or solar water heater upon the successful implementation of energy-efficiency (electricity and natural gas) measures. It also builds on Maryland and Prince George’s County’s energy-efficiency and carbon reduction goals and will help in making our County more energy resilient, using a holistic approach to break energy and cost barriers.

SOLAR GRANT ELIGIBILITY

To qualify for the grant award, homeowners must:

1. Be a Prince George’s County resident 
2. Be a Pepco customer as evidenced by a copy of recent (i.e. within 3 months) utility bill.

Paper copies of the bills are typically mailed to the customer address on record.  For Pepco customers with internet access, account information is available via the Pepco’s account portal: https://bit.ly/3b17pJK.

To confirm you are in one of the ERC communities, you must look up your address by using the ERC Address Locator: (http://bit.ly/ERClocator). Please note the ERC Address Locator is the definitive tool for determining the eligibility of an application.

SOLAR PV GRANT 

Click Here to Download Rooftop Solar Application 

The incentive amount depends on whether the system is owned by the homeowner or a third-party:

1. If system is owned by the homeowner:
   • Grant awards up to $10,000 to cover eligible costs associated with installing a solar photovoltaic system.
   • Grant awards up to $2,000 to purchase and install a solar power outlet in case of grid failure.
2. For third-party owned systems:
   • Grant awards up to $2,000 to cover eligible costs associated with installing a solar photovoltaic system.
   • Grant awards up to $2,000 to purchase and install a solar power outlet in case of grid failure.

Eligible costs include any parts, component, or accessory equipment necessary to operate and/or install the device. A maximum of 15% of the grant award can be spent on reasonable measures to facilitate the installation of the system on a home (for example, tree trimming).  OCS Sustainable Energy staff should be contacted to ensure the measure(s) qualifies. 

SELECTING A SOLAR CONTRACTOR

Residents are empowered to choose their own solar contractor to install their rooftop solar system. In order for a solar company to become a participating contractor as a part of the Solar PV grant, the company must be registered as a vendor of Prince George’s County with the Contract Administration and Procurement Division. 

• To begin, companies are to complete the vendor registration form which can be found by visiting https://erpvendorapp.sap.mypgc.us. 
• If you have further questions about vendor registration, please contact the Supplier Registration Coordinator in the Contract Administration and Procurement Division at 301-883-6400.

Please feel free to reach out to OCS SE staff with any question or concern pertaining to Clean Energy Program by calling 301-883-6450 or by emailing CleanE@co.pg.md.us. 

“OCS Sustainable Energy does not endorse, sponsor, or otherwise make any representation or warranty with respect to any contractor or the work, materials, or services provided by any contractor.”

SOLAR WATER HEATER GRANT

All systems supported through the grant award are subject to the following conditions:

• The minimum collector size to qualify for a grant award is 50 sq-ft;

• The solar water heating system must meet the requirements of the local codes and operated in compliance with the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation OG-100 Certification;

• The solar water heating system must be installed after January 1, 2018 to be eligible, and 50% of the yearly water heater energy use must come from the solar water heater;

• The solar water heating system must be installed by an appropriately licensed contractor in accordance with state and county laws. Self-installers are not eligible to receive rebates at this time. A manual or manuals must be provided for the solar water heating system;

• To protect the purchaser against defective workmanship, system or component breakdown, or severe degradation, all systems must carry the original manufacturer’s warranty of five years or greater, and all installation workmanship must be guaranteed for a minimum of one year. The entire solar generating system must carry a warranty, including collectors and tanks, and warranties should provide for no-cost repair or replacement of the system or system components, including any associated labor during the warranty period.

Submission of an application for the grant award does not guarantee receipt of a rebate or the amount of the requested rebate. The Solar Water Heater grant award operates on a first-come, first-served basis and incentive rebates are dependent upon cost effectiveness and funding availability.

SOLAR WATER HEATER GRANT ELIGIBILITY

To qualify for the grant award, homeowners must:

1. Be a Prince George’s County resident.
2. Be a Washington Gas customer as evidenced by a copy of recent (i.e. within 3 months) utility bill.

Paper copies of the bills are typically mailed to the customer address on record. Washington Gas customers can also access their accounts via the Washington Gas’ account portal: https://https://bit.ly/3b17pJK.

To confirm you are in one of the ERC communities, you must look up your address by using the ERC Address Locator: (http://bit.ly/ERClocator). Please note the ERC Address Locator is the definitive tool for determining the eligibility of an application.

SOLAR WATER HEATER

Click Here to Download Solar Water Heater Application

The incentive amount depends on whether the solar water heating system is owned by the homeowner or a third-party. 

1. If system is owned by the homeowner:
   • Grant awards up to $7,500 to cover eligible costs associated with installing a solar water heater.

2. For third-party owned systems:
   • Grant awards up to $2,000 to cover eligible costs associated with installing a solar water heater.

Eligible costs include any parts, component, or accessory equipment necessary to operate and/or install the device. A maximum of 15% of the grant award can be spent on reasonable measures to facilitate the installation of the system on a home. OCS Sustainable Energy staff should be contacted to ensure the measure(s) qualifies.