CALIFORNIA CITIES ENERGIZED OVER FEDERAL STIMULUS BLOCK GRANT
The state of California has been granted $1.1 billion by the Department of Energy (DOE) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and many California cities are hoping to capitalize on an opportunity to boost their energy efficiency because of it.
Of that $1.1 billion, $351.6 million will go to local governments for energy efficiency efforts through the new federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. Local governments with a population of more that 30,000 are currently in the application process for their piece of the pie.
Those with less than 30,000 are awaiting information on the competitive grant process. Applications are due on June 25 and the DOE is looking for projects that create jobs, meet the objectives of the program and are using the money for eligible activities, said DOE spokeswoman Jen Stutsman.
“If an application doesn’t do one of those things, we will go back and forth with these local governments until we can get a plan that we can approve” Stutsman said. “Our goal, absolutely, is to get these funds to the states and city governments.”