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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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Levin Press Office: 202-228-3685 Stabenow Press Office: 202-224-4822 |
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Stabenow,
Levin Announce Nearly $78 Million for Energy Efficiency in Michigan
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| WASHINGTON
— U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Carl Levin (D-MI) announced
today that Michigan has been awarded $77,975,900 in Energy Efficiency
and Conservation block grants through the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA). These formula-based grants will provide funding to cities,
counties, Tribal governments and statewide for projects designed to reduce
total energy use and carbon emissions.
“By making critical investments in our cities, counties, and states, we can help get locally driven alternative energy projects off the ground,” said Stabenow. “This energy efficiency and conservation block grant funding will help reduce carbon emissions and create thousands of good-paying jobs.” “These federal grants will help put people to work improving energy efficiency in our communities and reducing the impact we have on the environment through carbon emissions,” said Levin. “I am pleased this funding has been allocated so quickly, and hopeful the improvements it helps to fund will pay dividends in communities throughout Michigan for years to come.” 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 methane and other greenhouse gas emissions from landfills, 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 Department of Energy will provide guidance to grant recipients and require them 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. More detail on grant recipients
in Michigan can be found in the table below. |