In response to mounting economic struggle across the country, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) served as a nationwide investment in the economy with a sizable portion going to the $27 Billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Since the passage of the IRA, there has been tremendous movement across the nationwide economy to prepare for the release of funds allocated in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). The GGRF will be a catalyst for sustainable action with billions of dollars in public funding expected to leverage further investment from the private sector. This landmark investment in greenhouse gas reduction will promote sustainable innovation and impactful measures in underinvested communities.
Administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, the $27 billion in funds will go to three separate programs. These programs include the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator, Solar for All, and the National Clean Investment Fund. The Clean Communities Investment Accelerator will award its $6 billion in program funding to five separate grant recipients that will act as intermediaries in the disbursement of funds to organizations including Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and other community lenders. Access Plus Capital anticipates a disbursement of CCIA funds from the CDFI intermediary, Opportunity Finance Network. Opportunity Finance Network has been awarded $2.29 Billion to connect capital to community lenders and CDFIs, who in turn provide capital and technical assistance to clients that will benefit from the projects that the CCIA will finance.
The CCIA maintains three priority project categories: Distributed Energy Generation and Storage, Net-Zero Emissions Buildings, and Zero-Emissions Transportation. Distributed Energy Generation and Storage refers to the generation of carbon-pollution free energy from solar and wind power generation. Net-Zero Emissions Buildings refers to retrofitting buildings to become net-zero and new constructions of net-zero emissions buildings. Zero-Emissions Transportation refers to transportation modes that do not emit greenhouse gases, including electric bikes, electric scooters, medium and heavy-duty electric vehicles, and charging infrastructure. These projects must be in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
Access Plus Capital partnered with the Milken Institute, Elemental Accelerator, and Banyan Infrastructure to build green lending capacity ahead of the release of funds from the CCIA. The partnership pairs community lenders with the Banyan Infrastructure project finance system, while simultaneously providing technical support to grow our green lending capacity. This partnership has enabled Access Plus Capital to take a comprehensive approach to scaling up our green lending program before funds from the CCIA have been made available. With the complexity of compliance and reporting, the support from these partners and the intuitiveness of the Banyan platform will allow us to prepare compliance reports with integrated software that projects emissions reduced by products being financed.
Our preparation ahead of the release of GGRF funds will allow us to become early adopters of best practices in green lending. This wonderful partnership will allow us to best serve our clients who are being priced out of their business and have a tough time adopting new innovative measures. To bring our clients forward, we will use our technical assistance capabilities to help our clients understand the shifting technology landscape that has become more sustainable. With mandates for energy efficient new constructions and electric vehicle adoption, it can be hard to prepare for the future without a guiding hand that has already done research and has the means to guide your business. Access Plus Capital is proud to be a guiding figure to our clients in building their understanding of such mandates, early adoption, and providing financing for these green initiatives with favorable rates.