News
Area communities receive energy efficiency grants
5/21/2010
Author: Bob Braley
Published by: News Sun
Six northeast Indiana communities received word Thursday that they would receive grants to improve energy efficiency.
The combined total of the grants from the Indiana Office of Energy Development to be received by Albion, Angola, Garrett, Topeka, Rome City and Hudson equals more than $250,000, according to a state press release.
The largest grant is going to the town of Albion. The $126,203 grant is one of three received in northeast Indiana for retrofits to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and insulation. The other two grants in this category are for Rome City at $16,013 and Hudson at $12,665.
Angola will receive a waste water treatment plant pump retrofit grant for $69,375. Garrett will get a $36,590 grant for building lighting retrofits, the same category of grant as Topeka's for $25,397.
Albion town manager Beth Shellman said the town's grant is one of two the town applied for. The grant received is to insulate the Albion Municipal Building, she said. "We are waiting word on our second application that involves replacing lights and furnaces in the Albion Municipal Building, fire station and water plant."
The Albion Town Council and town employees have been conscious of how tax dollars are spent and have taken measures to improve energy efficiency, Shellman said. The town did an energy audit to see if there was money to be saved in that area through the grant program, and discovered there was.
Angola wastewater superintendent Craig Williams said the retrofit to his system will be like going from a simple on-off switch for lights to a dimmer switch with variable settings.
"We pump all of the city's waste water into our facility with very large-horsepower pumps," Williams said. The retrofit will install variable frequency drives that will allow pumps to precisely match the flow coming into the facility. He anticipates it will save the city a minimum of 30,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and pay for itself in a five-year period.
This is the second grant of this type Angola has received, Williams said. The city was given a lighting upgrade grant in the first round of this program. The new grant shows the continued commitment of the city in looking for ways to reduce its energy footprint, he added.
Garrett planning director Steve Bingham said its grant will be used to change lighting fixtures to increase energy efficiency and reduce electricity use at Garrett's city hall, electric utility building and water treatment plant.
Bingham said the efforts of IWM Consulting, an engineering firm that worked with him on the grant application, were important in procuring the grant.
"We're going to replace some of the more inefficient lighting in the maintenance building and the fire station, the police department and some parts of the town hall," said Topeka town manager Larry Schrock.
The changes will help reduce energy costs and have a long-term benefit, Schrock said. "It'll continue to help year after year."
Rome City applied for both furnace and lighting grants, and the furnace side was what the state granted, said Rome City town manager Leigh Pranger. The grant will be used to replace furnaces at the town's street department and waste water treatment plant.
Anything that saves the taxpayers money is great, and both the grant and the energy savings it will provide do that, Pranger said.
Hudson Clerk-Treasurer Tatsy Hayes said its grant will be used to make heating and colling more energy efficient in the town hall building. She credited town manager Ward Odom for his work in bringing the grant money to the town.
In all, 58 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) have been awarded to 47 Indiana cities, towns and counties for energy efficiency upgrades to public facilities. The awards come as part of the second round of federal funding in the EECBG program this year.
The purpose of the Indiana EECBG Program is to assist eligible entities in creating and implementing strategies to reduce fossil fuel emissions in a manner that is environmentally sustainable, reduce the total energy use of the eligible entities, increase energy efficiency, reduce energy consumption and reduce energy costs through efficiency improvements and create new jobs and increased productivity to spur economic growth and community development, according to a press release
A total of $5.09 million was awarded for upgrades including LED traffic and street light conversion, building lighting upgrades, HVAC and insulation retrofits, retrofitting pumps at waste water treatment facilities, and installing energy management systems. The communities were selected for the grants through a competitive application process.
"The high level of competition for these grant show Hoosier communities are serious about efficiency," said Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman. "The payback for residents and all of Indiana is reasonable energy costs and less dependence on foreign sources of energy."
The EECBG program is funded through the U.S. Department of Energy and administered in Indiana by the Office of Energy Development. Cities and towns less than 35,000 in population and counties with populations of 200,000 or less were eligible to apply for these grants. Back to Top