States, local governments, non-profits, and community partners are advancing clean energy and sustainability projects to meet long-term resilience, economic, and community goals. Implementing these projects often requires funding and financing beyond standard budget cycles to turn local plans and proposals into reality.
Numerous external factors shape clean energy investment decisions. These include available funding, utility structures, regulatory frameworks, wholesale market rules, energy market prices, and state policies — all of which can influence project costs, timelines, ownership models, and eligibility for funding, financing, and incentives. Understanding this broader context will help you plan for the funding needed and align funding strategies with projects that are feasible and financially viable in your jurisdiction.
Our Funding Guidance includes detailed and strategic resources for public and non-profit entities pursuing available funding and financing for their long-term energy investments. This guidance includes primers on the different types of funding, tools, and other resources to help you understand how to effectively navigate the universe of federal funding. It also offers updates to programs created in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and One Big Beautiful Bill Act to help your community understand newer sources of funding, tax credits, and other important considerations for incentives to support state, local, non-profit, and community efforts.
That said, while federal programs remain an important component of the funding landscape, state programs, utility incentives, local financing, and private capital all can help advance community projects and programs. This Funding Guidance was last updated in August 2026.
We encourage you to use this guidance to assess, compare, evaluate, and plan for funding and financing pathways that align with your project scope, market conditions, and community priorities. Please reach out to Matthew Popkin (mpopkin@rmi.org)and Alex Dane (alex.dane@wri.org) with any questions or feedback about this guidance or our corresponding tools and resources. Click the “Next” button below to begin.