CHARGE Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The CHARGE Act requires the Energy Secretary, through the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, to establish within 180 days a grant program for qualifying projects at Federally qualified health centers. Eligible applicants include State and local governments, FQHCs, nonprofit membership organizations that include FQHCs, and FQHC-majority-owned or controlled provider consortia or networks. Grant funds may be used only to install solar energy systems or energy storage technologies at one or more FQHCs or to provide technical assistance on designing, installing, operating, or using those systems. The bill authorizes $50 million for each fiscal year 2026 through 2030.
Who Benefits and How
Federally qualified health centers benefit from grants or technical assistance to install solar power and energy storage, which can lower energy costs and improve resilience during outages. State and local governments, nonprofit FQHC membership organizations, and FQHC-controlled provider networks can apply for funding. Patients served by FQHCs may benefit if clinics maintain operations during grid disruptions.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Department of Energy must create the program, review applications, decide how applicants select FQHC project sites, and monitor grant use. Applicants must prepare project descriptions and comply with DOE application requirements. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of up to $50 million per year from fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
Key Provisions
- Requires DOE to create a grant program for FQHC solar energy and energy storage projects within 180 days.
- Authorizes eligible State, local, FQHC, nonprofit membership, and provider-network applicants to apply.
- Limits grant funds to installation projects or technical assistance for solar and energy storage at FQHCs.
- Authorizes $50 million for each fiscal year 2026 through 2030.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a $50 million-per-year Energy Department grant program for solar energy systems, energy storage technologies, and technical assistance at Federally qualified health centers.
Key Policy Areas
Energy, Healthcare, Grants
Primary Purpose
Creates a $50 million-per-year Energy Department grant program for solar energy systems, energy storage technologies, and technical assistance at Federally qualified health centers.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Federally qualified health centers
- State and local government applicants
- FQHC provider networks
- Patients served by FQHCs
Identified Costs
- Department of Energy
- Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- Grant applicants
- Federal taxpayers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Smith of Washington (for himself, Mr. Valadao, Mrs. King-Hinds, …
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
FQHC provider networks, Federally qualified health centers, Patients served by FQHCs
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology