Portland and Eugene, Oregon get to share $20 million in government funds to get marketplaces, businesses and residents to make their buildings and practices more energy-efficient. The funds come from the Recovery Act funding to employ efficiency building retrofits.
US Vice President Joe Biden made the announcement that 25 communities will receive a portion of the $452 million total. Nationwide, these selected communities, non-profit organizations, private sector companies and local governments will begin working on new practices and programs for concentrated and broad-based energy efficient retrofits of certain areas, with the plan of these programs spreading throughout the entire state.
The programs created will serve as models for the rest of the nation and is expected to save households and businesses approximately $100 million in utility bills, leveraging private sector resources to create an estimated 30,000 jobs across the country over a three year period.
The 25 project communities will also leverage an estimated $2.8 billion from other sources to retrofit thousands of homes and businesses across the nation. The project was inundated with over $3.5 billion in total applications for the $452 million, showing a definite need and interest to invest in efficient energy use and building.
Here is the list of the communities and the amounts they each get.
Austin, Texas: $10 million
Boulder County, Colorado: $25 million
Camden, New Jersey: $5 million
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning: $25 million
Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance, Ohio: $17 million
Greensboro, North Carolina: $5 million
Indianapolis, Indiana: $10 million
Kansas City, Missouri: $20 million
Los Angeles County, California: $30 million
Lowell, Massachusetts: $5 million
State of Maine: $30 million
State of Maryland: $20 million
State of Michigan: $30 million
State of Missouri: $5 million
Omaha, Nebraska: $10 million
State of New Hampshire: $10 million
New York State Research and Development Authority: $40 million
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: $25 million
Phoenix, Arizona: $25 million
Portland, Oregon: $20 million
San Antonio, Texas: $10 million
Seattle, Washington: $20 million
Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance: $20 million
Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, Ohio: $15 million
Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation : $20 million
Here’s a statement from www.energy.gov. “Portland and Eugene, Oregon are seeking to transform and commercialize the marketplace for residential and commercial energy efficiency retrofits through a rapid full-scale deployment of the Clean Energy Works Oregon program. Clean Energy Works Oregon is a partnership of utilities, financial institutions, the Energy Trust of Oregon, the Oregon Department of Energy and targeted Oregon local governments. It will expand a successful residential efficiency pilot program statewide, leveraging proven program delivery with a state-wide revolving loan fund and other innovative financing options. Credit enhancement will be available for residential and small commercial projects.”
So, did you see that, Portland? There will be some jobs created here in Portland, and that’s not bad news. Neither is lower utility bills. This is Home and Living we all can enjoy and something we can look forward to.
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