After applications opened in November 2022 for the program’s first funding round, the Energy Department received 236 eligible applications totaling $1.62 billion from school districts in 44 states.
“The demand for this funding was unprecedented at DOE,” said Sarah Zaleski, the program coordinator for schools and nonprofit efforts at the department. “We did everything we could to bump up the funding.”
It might not come as much of a surprise that the demand is soaring for school infrastructure improvements, considering the American Society of Civil Engineers gave schools a D+ in its 2021 Infrastructure Report Card. That report found 53% of districts said they needed to update or replace building infrastructure such as HVAC systems.
