by Jbs032909 g3 — April 1, 2009—Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced plans on March 26 to invest $3.2 billion in energy efficiency and conservation projects in U.S. cities, counties, states, territories, and Native American tribes. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, funded by President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will provide formula grants for projects that reduce total energy use and fossil fuel emissions, and improve energy efficiency nationwide.
The funding will support energy audits and energy efficiency retrofits in residential and commercial buildings, the development and implementation of advanced building codes and inspections, and the creation of financial incentive programs for energy efficiency improvements.
Other activities eligible for use of grant funds include transportation programs that conserve energy, projects to reduce and capture greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy installations on government buildings, energy efficient traffic signals and street lights, deployment of Combined Heat and Power and district heating and cooling systems, and others.
To ensure accountability, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will require grant recipients to report on the number of jobs created or retained, energy saved, renewable energy capacity installed, greenhouse gas emissions reduced, and funds leveraged. Funding is based on a formula that accounts for population and energy use.
This announcement is in addition to DOE’s recent release of nearly $8 billion to support weatherization and state energy projects. A detailed breakdown of the funding by state, county, city and tribal government is available on the DOE’s Recovery Act Web site.
