Our solutions are tailored to each client’s strategic business drivers, technologies, corporate structure, and culture.
SOLUTIONS THROUGHOUT THE GGRF PROGRAM LIFECYCLE
Operating as a competition, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is allocated among three components:
The $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF), created to spur collaboration with private capital providers to fund distributed energy generation and storage, net-zero-emissions buildings, and zero-emissions transportation. Funding has been awarded to Climate United Fund, the Coalition for Green Capital, and Power Forward Communities.
The $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA), designed to rapidly build up the financial capacity of community lenders in low-income areas. Awards have been issued to Opportunity Finance Network, Inclusiv, Justice Climate Fund, Appalachian Community Capital, and Native CDFI Network.
The $7 billion Solar for All (SFA) program, intended to increase funding and access to solar energy for residential and community solar projects in underserved locales by funding residential and community solar and energy storage projects. 60 awards have been issued for this program.
In order to put GGRF capital to work quickly, it’s important that prime recipients move quickly to design their program for success throughout the GGRF lifecycle and develop the program administration, resources, and compliance solutions required. CohnReznick can help you:
Rapidly stand up your program to put funding to work benefitting communities
Utilize all potential sources of capital to maximize program benefits
Reduce financial, operational, and regulatory risk over the lifecycle of the program
Effectively administer funds
Comply with stringent federal oversight requirements
Minimize fraud, waste, and abuse and become a champion for program transparency
Demonstrate how funded projects are achieving program objectives
WHY COHNREZNICK?
There are five reasons why CohnReznick is uniquely well-positioned to help GGRF prime- and sub-recipients achieve their strategic implementation and maximize the impact of their GGRF funding.
Roots in community development. We draw upon our more than 40 years of expertise across the affordable housing, nonprofit, community development financial institution (CDFI), and clean energy industries. In hiring CohnReznick, you can be certain that we’re committed to the GGRF mission and we’ll be here to support the program throughout its lifecycle, just as we have the LIHTC, NMTC, OZ, and other government programs designed to support community development.
Federal program management expertise to help you stand up your program and deliver superior outcomes. We’ve distributed more than $50 billion in federal funding on programs like FEMA public assistance, HUD CDBG-DR, HUD CDBG-MIT, ERAP, CARES, ARRA, and IIJA. Our team includes former program leaders from the U.S. Department of Treasury and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, among others.
Innovative solutions to help you maximize your capital stack to enhance community impact. CohnReznick prides ourself on being a specialist in monetizing housing, energy, and other community-focused tax credits. We have a sizable project finance team to help model and execute optimal financing structures, and strong relationships and reputation with the private equity and banking communities. We’re experienced in leveraging alternative approaches to project funding and delivery.
Experienced problem-solvers to help you operationalize, de-risk, and scale your GGRF program. Our ready-to-deploy and highly trained staff has earned accolades for speeding funds to those in need while supporting compliance and protecting program integrity. We have significant experience in program design and business model development, enterprise risk management, cybersecurity, and integrity monitoring. Our dedicated government contracting and risk management team members incentivize compliance, vet projects and vendors, and monitor potential fraud, waste, and abuse of funds.
Sustainability design and measurement capabilities to capture outcomes that stand up to regulatory scrutiny. Our professionals have the experience needed to not only optimize the energy efficiency of built/infrastructure environments, but also design, capture, and report on decarbonization and resiliency metrics to comply with program requirements and help maximize return on sustainable investment.
OUR SERVICE AREAS
Program readiness: Operationalize awards by assessing the readiness of your human capital and finance and IT systems. We also evaluate outsourcing and joint venture opportunities.
Capital mobilization and management: Our team helps you raise funding from private capital providers and philanthropic sources. We assist with due diligence reviews, refining investment policies, testing internal procedures, optimizing financial products, strengthening portfolio and asset management practices, and benchmarking portfolio performance.
Project funding and financing: Increase investment by enacting public-private partnerships and other alternative financing strategies. Build financing capacity, navigate capital markets, enhance financial models, improve underwriting packages and third-party reports, and leverage technical assistance on transactions with experienced clean energy professionals.
Program administration: Our team can provide day-to-day program administration to optimize your program outcomes, with focuses including financial management, data management and analytics, cybersecurity, program governance and risk management, 2CFR200 compliance, training, reporting, and more.
Project management: Let us serve as a dedicated PMO to help plan project activities, monitor performance in a changing economic and regulatory environment, and deliver optimal outcomes on time and on budget.
Compliance monitoring and oversight: GGRF comes with extensive federal rules, regulations, and reporting requirements. We’ll help develop internal control frameworks, monitor adherence to prevailing wage and federal cross-cutting requirements, and mitigate potential loss of federal funding.
Sustainability strategy: Implement and optimize decarbonization strategies and transportation pollution reduction objectives. Our team of climate specialists can help you execute community outreach initiatives and track environmental, equity, and community impacts, to meet the objectives of the GGRF program.
Accounting and tax solutions: Navigate the IRA with the support of a dedicated and multidisciplinary team of clean energy specialists. Our professionals deliver tax planning, structuring, and compliance activities across applicable tax jurisdictions. Where appropriate, we also offer outsourced accounting and attestation services.
GGRF program breakdown: NCIF VS. CCIA VS. SFA
The GGRF program is driving three competitions that strategically target investment:
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Overview: The NCIF program provides funding to nonprofits to mobilize private capital to create clean financing instruments that fund tens of thousands of projects.
Prime recipients: 3 national nonprofits, announced in April 2024. Funding is expected to be available in July.
Investment amount: $14 billion
Priority project categories:
– Distributed energy generation and storage
– Net-zero emissions buildings
– Zero-emissions transportation
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Overview: The CCIA program funds selected industry-focused hub nonprofit recipients to develop a network of community lenders to provide access to capital.
Prime recipients: 5 national nonprofits announced in April 2024.
Investment amount: $6 billion
Priority project categories:
– Distributed energy generation and storage
– Net-zero emissions buildings
– Zero-emissions transportation
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Overview: The Solar For All program provides funding to drive solar development in low-income and disadvantaged communities throughout the U.S.
Prime recipients: 60 states, tribal governments, municipalities, and nonprofits announced in April 2024. Funding is expected to be available this summer.
Investment amount: $7 billion
Priority project categories:
– Residential rooftop solar
– Residential-serving community solar
– Associated storage
– Enabling upgrades
Anton Cohen
CPA, Partner, Renewable Energy Industry and Project Finance and Consulting Practice Leader
Frank Banda
CPA, CFE, PMP, Managing Partner – Government and Public Sector Advisory
Joel Cohn
CPA, Partner, Project Finance & Consulting
Jenny Brusgul
Sustainability Advisory Practice Leader
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