Washington, DC – Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that Massachusetts will receive $14,752,100 in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support energy efficiency and conservation activities. Under the Department of Energy’s Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program, the state will implement programs that lower energy use, reduce carbon pollution, and create green jobs locally.
«This funding will allow states across the country to make major investments in energy solutions that will strengthen America’s economy and create jobs at the local level,» said Secretary Chu. «It will also promote some of the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable energy technologies we have – energy efficiency and conservation – which can be deployed immediately. Local communities can now make strategic investments to help meet the nation’s long term clean energy and climate goals.»
DOE is announcing more than $106 million in funding today for 9 states, including: Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia.
Massachusetts will use its Recovery Act EECBG funds to advance efficiency and conservation goals at the community level. To maximize the overall return on these investments, the commonwealth will leverage private capital and expertise from local and non-local partners. The majority of Massachusetts’ EECBG allocation, administered by the Department of Energy Resources (DOER), will be passed along to cities and counties with populations less than 35,000. DOER estimates that, given the amount of funding available and the maximum grant award amount of $150,000, more than 80 communities will receive funding under this competitive subgrant program.
Massachusetts will use remaining Recovery Act funds for several training and technical assistance initiatives. First, DOER will share its Energy Information Reporting System with each of the commonwealth’s 351 local government units. This system will enable communities to establish energy-use baseline inventories for their buildings, vehicles, and street lights. To share current technical knowledge with even the smallest localities, DOER will also employ over $1 million to engage experts who can provide on the ground assistance. These experts can help cities and counties ensure that energy baselines are accurately defined, equipment and systems are correctly designed and installed, installed equipment and systems performs as they should, and that performance and results are effectively measured and monitored. Finally, DOER will devote a portion of its EECBG funding to provide energy code training to building code officials throughout the commonwealth. As a result of today’s Recovery Act award, Massachusetts expects to substantially lower its energy use and fossil fuel emissions, as well as save or create more than 200 green jobs.
Today’s awards to State Energy Offices will be used to support state-level energy efficiency priorities, along with funding local conservation projects in smaller cities and counties. At least 60 percent of each state’s award will be passed through to local cities and counties not eligible for direct EECBG awards from the Department of Energy. The EECBG Program was funded for the first time by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and provides formula grants to states, cities, counties, territories and federally-recognized Indian tribes nationwide to implement energy efficiency projects locally.
Projects eligible for support include the development of an energy efficiency and conservation strategy, energy efficiency audits and retrofits, transportation programs, the creation of financial incentive programs for energy efficiency improvements, the development and implementation of advanced building codes and inspections, and installation of renewable energy tec
