Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants
Overview
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the State of Maryland will be receiving approximately $52 million in funding for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. The ten largest Maryland counties and the ten largest Maryland municipalities, based on population, are eligible to receive EECBG grants directly from DOE. The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) has approximately $9.6 million in EECBG funds for projects to be implemented in the remaining 13 Maryland counties and 147 municipalities not eligible to receive EECBG grants directly from DOE. Funding allocations for the 13 counties and 147 municipalities eligible for EECBG sub-grants from MEA can be found on the following webpage.
MEA will be allocating the majority of these funds in the form of sub-grants, using a population based formula. MEA will also be using a portion of the EECBG funds to provide energy engineering services to help the counties and municipalities receiving grants to identify potential energy efficiency and conservation projects and/or to conduct planning sessions for renewable energy projects. Assistance will be provided to help local governments assess their specific energy opportunities, prepare project bid specifications, and estimate project savings.
MEA has created a reference guide that Maryland counties and municipalities can use as they start to consider the type of energy project(s) they may wish to fund with their EECBG sub-grant. Energy projects must occur on buildings or facilities owned or operated by the recipient local government.
Program Status
MEA's EECBG grant application has been approved by DOE. Letters have been sent to each local government notifying them that they are eligible for a sub-grant through MEA's EECBG allocation. The notification letters also request that each local government forward MEA the name and contact information for the individual responsible for managing the local government's EECBG projects. Contact information for the EECBG grants should be sent to jgallicchio @energy.state.md.us as soon as possible.
Next Steps
1) Once MEA has a point of contact for each local government, MEA will execute a grant agreement with each interested county or municipality. The grant agreement will contain the reporting requirements and
the statutory provisions and regulations that must be complied with as a condition of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
2) After grant agreements have been finalized, MEA can begin to put local governments in touch with MEA's technical assistance contractor that will assist them in identifying the most effective use of their grant dollars.
Questions and Comments
Please address questions & comments via e-mail to Jenn Gallicchio at jgallicchio @energy.state.md.us or call 1-800-72-ENERGY.
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