Billions in US Energy Funds Elusive for Resource-Strapped Cities

Alicia Brown steered a city-owned electric Nissan Leaf through communities hemmed in by chemical plants, paper mills, and the constant rail and truck traffic that feeds one of the nation’s busiest seaports, in Savannah, Georgia.

The city’s clean-energy program manager said she sees opportunity for Savannah neighborhoods like Hudson Hill, made up of former sharecropper housing, thanks to unprecedented federal money newly available to pay for home energy efficiency updates, rooftop solar installations, electric buses, and EV charging stations.

In fact, a significant percentage of the billions of dollars being unleashed through President Joe Biden’s climate and environmental initiatives is ...