Subject: What the Governor is Talking About Today
What the Governor’s Talking about Today
Monday, January 25, 2010
 
Governor Announces $17.4 Million in Energy Efficiency Grants to 125 Michigan Communities
 
The governor announced today that the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth (DELEG) has awarded $17.4 million in grants to 125 cities, townships, villages and counties throughout Michigan to support local energy efficiency projects.  The state Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) are funded through the Recovery Act.
 
DELEG’s Bureau of Energy Systems (BES) awarded the EECBG grants to projects that will create and retain jobs, save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  The grant awards generally range from $50,000 to $140,000 for single cities, townships or villages, and up to $650,000 for single counties and multi-jurisdictional recipients.
 
BES is administering these grants through two separate programs:
 
•  Multi-purpose competitive grants for smaller communities will support energy efficiency measures such as replacing high-energy systems in municipal buildings and street lighting, creating or expanding community recycling programs, and installing small-scale renewable energy generating systems.
 
•  Light Emitting Diode/Solid State Lighting (LED/SSL) competitive grants will fund demonstrations of LED/SSL technology in various high-demand applications such as exterior parking, street and traffic lighting.
 
Key messages:
 
•  These Recovery Act funds will assist our ongoing efforts in moving to a clean energy economy.  Investing in energy-saving projects throughout Michigan will boost the state’s energy efficiency and renewable energy industries, reduce energy costs for communities and create jobs.
 
•  At a time when municipalities are hard-pressed to fund capital improvements, these grants will jump start their efforts and allow them to realize operational savings that can be used to fund other energy efficiency and conservation projects.
 
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