Counties to reap benefits of new grant program
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Staff Report - Published: September 14, 2009
WASHINGTON — Three Vermont counties — Caledonia, Orleans and Franklin —have won economic stimulus funding for energy efficiency and conservation projects through a new block grant program.
The state's first county-specific block grants created by the block grant legislation drafted by Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., include $128,900 for Caledonia County, $115,200 for Orleans County and $195,600 for Franklin County, the senator said in a recent announcement.
The grants may be used to update building codes to require construction of energy-efficient homes and businesses, retrofit old buildings with new technology, use alternative energy and create incentives for resident to carpool or ride buses, Sanders said.
Besides the three northern counties, most other Vermont counties will likely receive funding under an Energy Department program created by legislation he sponsored, Sanders said.
As chairman of the Senate Environment Committee's Green Jobs and New Economy Subcommittee, Sanders developed legislation that established the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.
The state, its cities and towns have already gotten awards of $10.3 million through the program, Sanders said. More than $1 million in additional block grants may also be going to other Vermont counties, Sanders estimated.
"This funding will support local efforts to tackle our serious energy challenges," Sanders said. "It provides federal recognition of grassroots effort to cut fossil fuel emissions, improve energy efficiency and move us toward such sustainable energies as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass," Sanders said.
Sanders, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., wrote a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu to ask him to reverse a regulatory decision that initially excluded counties in New England states.
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