Riverside County EDA Chases Federal Energy Efficiency Funding
The Riverside County Economic Development Agency will pursue a $6.5 million dollar grant for Energy Efficiency and Conversion with the U.S. Department of Energy, having been the first county in the nation to be awarded $50,000 to underwrite the filing of the grant application.
In order to secure the $ 6.5 million in funds, the county will submit a project roster, justifications, project budgets, environmental reviews, and its strategy. The application deadline is December 2.
Once the application is filed and reviewed, the county is expected to receive some $3.2 million dollars for this project. The remaining funding is to become available after the county demonstrates success with the proposed programs.
County wide projects proposed for these funds include: solar panels, lighting retrofits, air conditioning retro fits, boiler replacement/upgrades, LED traffic signal retrofits, installing building controls and the like.
Completion of these projects will result in energy savings, reduce the amount of county taxpayer dollars used on energy, reduce emissions and kick-start related jobs.
“ This is a great way to put our skilled labor force back to work and in doing so save tax payer dollars on our energy costs for years to come,” said EDA Spokesman Tom Freeman.