California Briefs: State Invests in Grid Resiliency and Preserves 638 Affordable Homes

 Padilla Announces $67 Million Federal Investment for Grid Resiliency in California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla in July announced that California was awarded an initial $67 million in funding, the most of any state this year, through the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants program. This funding – included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and modeled after Padilla’s POWER ON Act – will minimize the impacts of extreme weather and natural disasters on our electrical grid while ensuring the benefits of clean, safe, affordable and reliable energy are shared by all, particularly those in disadvantaged communities and communities with critical energy resilience needs. Selected projects will be used to advance California’s goal of achieving 100% clean energy through resilience solutions that deploy zero-carbon energy resources and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Over the next five years, the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants will distribute a total of $2.3 billion to States, Territories, and federally recognized tribes, including Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Alaska Native Village Corporations, based on a formula that includes factors such as population size, land area, probability and severity of disruptive events, and a locality’s historical expenditures on mitigation efforts. The States, Territories, and tribes will then award these funds to complete a diverse set of projects, with priority given to efforts that generate the greatest community benefit while providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy.  

Gov. Newsom Announces $159.9 Million to Preserve 638 Affordable Homes 

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom July 7 announced more than $159.9 million in awards to keep an additional 638 homes affordable for up to 55 more years. Since 2022, $315.3 million has been awarded to preserve 1,364 affordable homes, assuring housing for nearly 27,000 people over the life of the developments’ affordability agreements. These investments guarantee that rents in these thousands of homes remain affordable to low-income Californians for up to 55 more years, rather than permanently transforming into market-rate units.

The awards are part of the state’s Portfolio Reinvestment Program or PRP, managed by the California Department of Housing and Community Development or HCD. The program aims to extend affordability agreements by extending loan maturity dates, provide new low-interest long-term loans for rehabilitation of housing and provides forgivable loans to support short-term operating subsidies.   

Preserving existing affordable homes is part of the multi-pronged strategy laid out in the California’ Statewide Housing Plan, which calls for 2.5 million new homes by 2030, with at least one million of those homes being affordable to Californians at lower income levels. 

The awards announced today for Los Angeles include : Abode Communities which received $26,248,920 to preserve 144 units at Centennial Place in the County of Los Angeles.

Additional funding is still being offered with a notice of availability set to be released in early fall of this year. 

Details: Portfolio Reinvestment Program (PRP) California Department of Housing and Community Development.