Cleaver: A very happy Earth Day

From Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D):

EnergyWorks KC gets $20 million grant for green!

We had a very good Earth Day as a community. As the Kansas City Star reported: “Imagine an energy-efficiency program that helps you figure out the best improvements to make to your home or business, then lines up financing for the work.” Wednesday, I was pleased to join the Vice President at the White House to announce that Kansas City has been awarded $20 million to do just that.

The announcement kicked off five days of Administration events around the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. $452 million in Recovery Act funding was awarded nationally to “ramp-up” energy efficiency building retrofits as part of the announcement. Under the program, communities, governments, private sector companies and non-profit organizations will work together on pioneering and innovative programs for concentrated and broad-based retrofits of neighborhoods and towns – and eventually entire states. These partnerships will support large-scale retrofits and make energy efficiency accessible to hundreds of thousands of homeowners and businesses. The models created through this program are expected to save households and businesses about $100 million annually in utility bills, while leveraging private sector resources, to create what funding recipients estimate at about 30,000 jobs across the country during the next three years.

As a result of our $20 million award, EnergyWorks KC will assist property owners throughout Missouri’s Fifth District to navigate the complex maze of tax credits, rebates, incentives, and low cost financing needed to improve energy efficiency. The Metropolitan Energy Center will host a one-stop shop that will assist home and business owners to identify and select the appropriate improvements, figure out how to pay for those improvements and ensure that the improvements actually reduce their bills over the long term.

At least 2,500 residential, commercial, industrial, educational, non-profit and civic buildings will be retrofitted in our community.

This grant was perhaps the most competitive grant we have yet to be awarded, and leveraged the success of the Green Impact Zone project to increase funding for other neighborhoods. Over 170 applications were received and only 25 were awarded.

The grant required a tremendous 5-to-1 local match, which area private and public organizations committed to further the project. In fact, our local match went far beyond what is required. This $20 million award could leverage nearly $250 million in already agreed upon match.

This is not just more money to do the same old thing. These dollars will put our community in the forefront to fundamentally change the equation and sustain these important energy-efficiency efforts long beyond the span of the Recovery Act. The Vice President’s announcement makes it clear in the eyes of the Department of Energy and the Obama Administration we have moved into a league with some of the most aggressively environmentally conscious cities in the country. The nation is looking to us to lead the way. The work will be hard and the hours long, but the rewards are extremely exciting.

That hard work to be done in our neighborhoods will range from adding insulation to installing more efficient heating and cooling equipment.

What is perhaps even more impressive is the company we will keep among the awardees: Portland, Seattle, New York, Phoenix and Austin — all leaders of the environmental movement. Now, because of the efforts of so many to refocus our attention on creating a green future, we join the list of leaders. Out front is a very good place to be.

In brief, this grant will:
• Retrofit thousand of residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and public buildings during the project period and additional buildings in the two years after the grant project period;
• Reduce 216 million kWh/year in electricity, 570 million cubic feet/year in natural gas, and 60 million gallons/year in water use, and associated utility bills;
• Develop workforce and job creation/retention of an average of 455 jobs;
• Advocate state and local public policy changes to lower or eliminate barriers to energy efficiency efforts; and
• Create a replicable model for energy efficiency that could be adopted across the region.

The grant asked for “game-changing” ideas. Friends, I think we have delivered.

Full list of awardees:
Austin, Texas - $10 million
Boulder County, Colorado - $25 million
Camden, New Jersey - $5 million
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning - $25 million
Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance, Ohio - $17 million
Greensboro, North Carolina - $5 million
Indianapolis, Indiana - $10 million
Kansas City, Missouri - $20 million
Los Angeles County, California - $30 million
Lowell, Massachusetts - $5 million
State of Maine - $30 million
State of Maryland - $20 million
State of Michigan - $30 million
State of Missouri - $5 million
Omaha, Nebraska - $10 million
State of New Hampshire - $10 million
New York State Research and Development Authority - $40 million
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - $25 million
Phoenix, Arizona - $25 million
Portland, Oregon - $20 million
San Antonio, Texas - $10 million
Seattle, Washington - $20 million
Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance - $20 million
Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, Ohio - $15 million
Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation - $20 million

Retrofit By the Numbers
• 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.

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