It seems to me these giant grants to a small number of organizations (Climate United Fund, Coalition for Green Capital, Power Forward Communities) seems like it could be delivering pork to well-connected people. Is this actually going to produce “clean” energy and help disadvantaged people? These seem like very large awards to a small number of organizations.
Those organizations are already doing the work the EPA wants done. So funding them is basically like any other government contract. I’ve haven’t read the whole details, but as with most government grants, there are almost certainly strings attached and milestones that need to be met.
It’s essentially the EPA equivalent of NASA funding SpaceX and Boeing.