Energy Division
Every year, ADECA’s Energy Division awards grants to ensure that low-income families and individuals are able to endure Alabama’s cold winter and hot summers in the comfort of their own homes.
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the Weatherization Assistance Program help low-income people manage their energy costs and make home improvements that increase energy efficiency.
The programs are two of the Energy Division’s many missions. The division also serves as Alabama’s State Energy Office, working to help Alabamians become more energy efficient in their homes, workplaces and vehicles using low-energy products, techniques and programs.
ADECA provides funds to a network of community action and other agencies to administer the LIHEAP and Weatherization programs on the local level. The LIHEAP program provides one-time assistance to help low-income people pay high heating and cooling bills. Priority is given to households with children, the elderly and people with physical or mental disabilities. The pro-gram is funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Weatherization Assistance Program assists homeowners by making low-cost energy-efficiency improvements to their houses. The types of modifications made to a house are determined through an energy audit that identifies the most effective measures to improve insulation and reduce energy costs. Weatherization Assistance is funded through the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In 2025, Energy distributed nearly $60 million to state community action agencies to assist about 80,000 households with energy bills through LIHEAP. An additional $10 million in Weatherization funds was distributed to provide energy efficient measures in about 600 houses.
Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
The Energy Division also played a leading role in helping the state transition to electric vehicles by administering two major pro-grams designed to expand the state’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The state-funded Alabama Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Program is responsible for installing electric vehicle charging stations in highly populated areas and on well-traveled highways. Recent projects include two direct-current fast chargers in the town of Lafayette through a $199,000 grant, and two other fast charging stations at the Gadsden Museum of Art with a $180,965 grant.
Smiths Station welcomed a new charging station at the Love’s Travel Stop, funded in part by the Alabama Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Program.
National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program
The federally funded program from the Federal Highway Administration was established to supply electric vehicle charging stations along the state’s interstate systems. The program not only encourages people to travel the state but has also served as an invitation for electric vehicle motorists to exit the interstate and visit Alabama’s cities and communities. In 2025, ADECA developed a new state plan for the program based on new guidance from the Federal Highway Administration which was approved in September 2025.
Other Energy Programs
State Energy Program
The State Energy Program is designed to help schools, government agencies (including city and county buildings) and non-profit organizations lower energy costs with the installation of energy-saving equipment and devices.
Among projects eligible for funding under the program are upgrades in lighting, heating and air-conditioning systems and roof coatings. The Energy Division also provides technical assistance to help grant applicants identify potential projects and provide cost estimates for the upgrades.
In 2025, 17 grants totaling nearly $645,500 were awarded from funds made available to the state by the U.S. Department of Energy. Among recent grants was $40,000 awarded to equip the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile with energy-efficient heating and air-conditioning systems.
Energy also periodically receives additional funds for retrofit projects.
Alabama Research and Development Enhancement Fund
Innovation and technology play a vital role in improving lives in Alabama and beyond. The Energy Division supports research through this grant program that encourages the state’s universities and technology corporations to develop new technologies that improve quality of life and create new jobs.
The fund was established by the Alabama Legislature in 2019 to encourage innovation in research and development institutions.
In 2025, eight grants totaling more than $1.6 million were awarded. HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology was award-ed $325,000 to develop bio-based construction materials.
Community Services Block Grant Program
The program, administered at the local level by the state’s com-munity action agencies, provides support assistance to struggling families and individuals to help them gain a foothold and pull themselves up to self-sufficiency. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Next: Law Enforcement and Traffic Safety Division
