Sponsors (5)
The bill directs modest, multi‑year federal grants and technical assistance to help FQHCs adopt clean energy and cut operating costs, improving environmental outcomes and provider sustainability, but it risks uneven access for smaller centers, excludes some resilience investments, and increases federal spending.
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) can install solar and battery storage and receive technical assistance, lowering their energy bills and operating costs and improving long‑term financial sustainability for community health providers.
The bill authorizes predictable multi‑year grant funding ($50M/year, FY2026–2030), enabling scale-up of projects and coordination with state and local programs to expand clean energy at health centers.
Grants for clean energy deployment at health centers will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution in the communities those centers serve.
Smaller or less‑resourced FQHCs may struggle to apply for or meet grant requirements, concentrating benefits among better‑resourced centers and leaving vulnerable providers behind.
Restricting grant eligibility to qualifying solar/storage/TA projects may exclude other resilience or grid‑upgrade investments that could better improve facility reliability and emergency preparedness.
Federal taxpayers will incur increased spending of $50M per year for five years to fund the grant program.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a DOE grant program to fund solar and energy storage installations and related technical assistance at Federally Qualified Health Centers, authorizing $50M/year for FY2026–2030.
Introduced November 21, 2025 by Adam Smith · Last progress November 21, 2025
Creates a Department of Energy grant program to fund solar energy systems, energy storage technologies, and related technical assistance at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). The DOE must set up the program within 180 days of enactment and the bill authorizes $50 million per year for fiscal years 2026–2030 to carry out eligible projects. Grants may be awarded to FQHCs themselves, state or local governments, nonprofit membership organizations that include FQHC members, and provider consortia or networks majority-owned or controlled by FQHCs. Grant funds are limited to qualifying projects; energy storage is defined by reference to the Internal Revenue Code and FQHCs are defined by reference to existing federal law.