Washtenaw County among communities in Michigan that will split $30 million energy grant award
Recent decisions by Washtenaw County, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti to join a new regional energy office are paying off in a big way.
Vice President Joe Biden today announced the selection of 25 communities across the nation that will receive portions of a $452 million pot of Recovery Act funds to ramp up energy efficiency building retrofits.
Washtenaw County Commissioner Conan Smith has announced the news locally that $30 million in federal energy grant awards are on the way to Michigan.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
The state of Michigan will receive $30 million of that money — the second largest award in the nation behind New York.
"It's totally amazing," said Washtenaw County Commissioner Conan Smith.
As executive director of the Michigan Suburbs Alliance, Smith has been working for months on regional cooperation efforts — including the formation of the new Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office — to attract federal grant dollars for energy efficiency projects.
Smith's firm helped pull together the state of Michigan, Detroit, Grand Rapids and Michigan SAVES to submit a joint application to the U.S. Department of Energy that resulted in the $30 million award.
"We managed to unify all of the applicants in Michigan under one umbrella proposal," Smith said.
Smith said it's hard to say how much of the money will filter into Washtenaw County. He noted the grant request was for $70 million, so the various partners will have to work out a plan to restructure the distribution.Â
But Smith guesses around $7 million could flow into the city of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Washtenaw County.
The best part of the program, Smith said, is the money goes directly toward retrofitting complete neighborhoods. He said up to 500 homes at once in neighborhoods along key transit lines will receive energy efficient improvements. Only communities that joined the energy office will receive money, he noted, so it's a good thing Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Washtenaw County got on board.
Retrofit By the Numbers
According to the U.S. Department of Energy:
- Residential and commercial buildings consume 40 percent of the energy and represent 40 percent of the carbon emissions in the United States. Building efficiency represents one of the easiest, most immediate and most cost effective ways to reduce carbon emissions and save money on energy bills while creating new jobs.
- Existing techniques and technologies in energy efficiency retrofitting can reduce energy use by up to 40 percent per home and lower total associated greenhouse gas emissions by up to 160 million metric tons annually.
- Residential and commercial retrofits also have the potential to cut energy bills by $40 billion annually.
Biden's announcement today kicked off five days of administration events around the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.
"For 40 years, Earth Day has focused on transforming the way we use energy and reducing our dependence on fossil fuel — but this year, because of the historic clean energy investments in the Recovery Act, we're poised to make greater strides than ever in building a nationwide clean energy economy," Biden said today. “This investment in some of the most innovative energy-efficiency projects across the country will not only help homeowners and businesses make cost-cutting retrofit improvements, but also create jobs right here in America."
The 25 projects announced are expected to leverage an estimated $2.8 billion from other sources over the next three years to retrofit hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the country, according to the Department of Energy. The models created through the program are expected to save households and businesses about $100 million annually in utility bills, while leveraging private sector resources to create 30,000 jobs in the next three years.
The Department of Energy received more than $3.5 billion in applications for the $452 million that was available. Officials say that indicates significant demand for energy-saving and job-creating projects.
The application from Michigan originally called for doing retrofits in 39 neighborhoods statewide, but with $40 million less than requested, it's likely the number will be smaller than that.
Smith said some dollars will go directly into the city of Detroit to upgrade large, historic, commercial buildings downtown that are struggling to manage energy costs and, as a result, are driving business away. He said energy efficient improvements will help reverse that trend.
"All in all, it's an exciting announcement," he said. "And the fact that Michigan is one of the top two in the country to win is incredible."
- Click here to read AnnArbor.com's previous coverage on the announcement of the new Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.
Comments
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Sun, Apr 25, 2010 : 7:28 p.m.
Kudos to Conan Smith on his vision and hard work to get this $30mm for SE Michigan!
jcj
Thu, Apr 22, 2010 : 4:52 p.m.
Lets see a follow up article in 3 years. And tell me then how much money was saved vs how much was squandered on worthless studies! The key is how much savings will be seen per household per year?