Residents and advocacy groups urge county to spend $709 million disaster grant on an ‘affordable energy and climate’ plan; commission opens planning process

Dozens of residents and advocacy groups urged the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 19 to adopt an “Affordable Energy and Climate Plan” and to use a newly announced federal disaster-recovery grant to fund energy-efficiency and resilience projects.

The push coincided with a county presentation that said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had notified Hillsborough County on Jan. 21 that it would receive an allocation of $709,000,000 in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds for damages from the 2023–24 hurricane seasons. Tom Fesler, the county’s chief financial administrator, said the county must prepare an HUD action plan and submit it within the 90-day window or request an extension; at least 70% of the funds must benefit low- and moderate-income people or areas and at least 15% must be used for mitigation.

“Projects that promote clean energy, energy efficiency, and climate adaptation — this funding is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Hillsborough County,” Brooke Ward, senior Florida organizer with Food & Water Watch, told the commission during the public-comment period.

Why it matters: speakers and local groups said the grant provides an immediate funding stream to pursue energy-cost relief and resilience measures that they say will reduce bills, protect vulnerable residents during extreme heat and storms, and create local clean-energy jobs. County staff said the funds come with complex HUD rules and a required public comment period; officials signaled they will meet with municipal governments, consult neighboring counties that received similar grants and likely hire external consultants to prepare the action plan.

What the county said: Fesler described key deadlines and constraints. He said the county was given 90 days after notification to prepare an action plan — making the April 16 commission meeting a target for a draft — but HUD staff advised the county that an extension request would be expected and permissible. He said the action plan requires a 30-day public comment period and that staff will meet with cities in Hillsborough County to assess unmet needs and potential project allocations. “We will likely hire a consultant,” Fesler said, citing Orange County’s experience in which their action-plan process took longer than the initial window.

What advocates want: speakers representing the Hillsborough Affordable Energy Coalition, Sierra Club, GenClimate/GenCLIO, Florida Student Power and others asked the commission to adopt the coalition’s plan or create a county task force to develop and adopt similar measures. The speakers recommended specific measures including county energy audits, expanded weatherization and efficiency programs, green-space and heat-island mitigation, buyback programs to lower household electricity bills, bilingual public education, and prioritized investments for high-energy-burden households. Isabella Moller, an environmental science student who helped draft the coalition plan, said energy-efficiency and weatherization “directly align” with CDBG-DR objectives and urged the board to integrate the plan into the CDBG action plan.

Board response and next steps: commissioners and staff discussed timing and coordination. Commissioner Harry Cohen and other members encouraged rapid action; staff said they planned to ask HUD for an extension to allow a thorough public-engagement process and would leverage lessons from other counties that have managed similar allocations. The board did not take a separate policy vote on adopting the Affordable Energy and Climate Plan but approved a separate, related consent item earlier in the meeting (see separate items). County staff said they would return with an action-plan timeline, seek public input and report back to the board.

Context and constraints: Fesler warned that HUD funds come with regulatory and reporting requirements that will require dedicated staff and consultant support. He noted that the county has up to six years to spend the allocation once the action plan is approved. He also said none of the county’s cities received a direct allocation and any city allocations would require interlocal agreements and compliance safeguards.

What to watch: staff said they will seek public input in March–April, request HUD guidance as needed, and return to the board with an action-plan draft for public comment before final submission to HUD. Advocacy groups urged the board to adopt the Affordable Energy and Climate Plan or a county task force to ensure the funding is used for the energy and resilience priorities speakers described.