Energizing Our Communities Act (EOCA)
In 2022, the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) invested $369 billion into clean energy, clean transportation and green technology. While this was an incredible achievement, it was just one pitch in our climb toward a clean energy future and reaching our climate goals of carbon neutrality by 2050. It’s time for POW, our coalition of athletes, creatives, scientists, brand partners and the entire Outdoor State to meet the moment and make our summit push.
What is it?
In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) invested $369 billion in clean energy infrastructure. It’s a solid move, but we aren’t at the summit yet. To reach our climate goals, we need to unlock the full potential of the IRA and POW is ready for the summit push! We have nearly 1,400 gigawatts (GW) of generation and storage capacity that is waiting to be connected to the grid, but we need rapid transmission development to reach its full potential. This bill aims to overcome local opposition by reinvesting federal funds back into hosting communities, including tribal governments, for vital needs like roads, schools, libraries, hospitals, and of course, outdoor recreation.
Why is it needed?
We need to responsibly develop and deploy the potential nearly 1400GW of renewable energy that is available and it needs to reach communities affordably across the country. In order for this to happen, we need to do the following:
- Transmission needs to be developed rapidly and responsibly in order to reach our climate goals and and fully scale renewable energy incentives in the IRA.
- Electricity demand from consumers is increasing rapidly, therefore we need to increase the capacity for transmission to carry the needed electricity from these new clean energy sources to energy consumers.
- We need to overcome obstacles in community opposition. This bill will invest funds from the federal loan program back into communities where the transmission lines are being developed, including tribal governments, who host energy infrastructure at no additional cost to the federal government.
Why POW?
As members of the Outdoor State™, we’ll be the ones recreating in the shadows of transmission lines and clean energy infrastructure and we want responsible development that will prioritize our communities and the landscapes we love. The Outdoor State™ can play a key role in driving the clean energy transition, and we need your voice to help us make this happen.
We’ve done our planning and preparation… Now it’s go time.
