Politics & Government

City of Buckley Receives $325,000 State Energy Effficiency Grant

The grant is part of $18 million in grants announced by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee this week to create jobs and lower energy costs.

The city of Buckley and Green River Community College are two of nearly 50 state entities that will be receiving energy efficiency grants from the state of Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee's office announced this week.

Nearly $18 million in grants to create jobs and to lower energy costs are going to 12 higher education institutions and 37 local governments.

The $325,000 awarded to Buckley will help update six city buildings with new programmable thermostats, HVAC systems and controls or insulation. The GRCC campus in Auburn was also awarded $453,000.

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An estimated 543 jobs will be created by this construction spending. The total cost for all the projects is more than $66 million, including more than $48 million in non-state funding.

The immediate goal of the state’s Energy Efficiency Grant program is to stimulate Washington’s economy by creating jobs. 

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“This is precisely the sort of program we need as we work to rebuild our economy,” Inslee said. “These grants will reduce energy costs, provide training opportunities to students and create jobs in the clean energy sector.”

The long-term goal of the program is to reduce energy costs at the state’s public higher education institutions and local government facilities.

“The upgrades provided by these grants, such as new lighting, boilers, and water-saving plumbing, put people to work right away, and the energy efficiencies will save money for Washington taxpayers well into the future,” said Commerce Director Brian Bonlender. “The program stretches grant dollars by leveraging funding from non-state sources.” 

The 2012 Legislature appropriated $20 million to higher education and $18 million to local governments, including a specific set aside of at least 10 percent for small cities or towns (populations of 5,000 or less). There have been two rounds of awards. The first recipients were announced in August 2012.

Round one award recipient Community Colleges of Spokane was able to install a building-wide control system in two of their buildings. The new control system is expected to save approximately $12,000 annually. Now instead of having the HVAC system either totally off or on, the maintenance staff maximizes the buildings’ energy efficiency. “The new controls make the buildings more comfortable for everyone. The energy savings are reinvested right back into other energy efficiency projects. We are marching through the campus buildings one at a time and making them more energy efficient. This grant gave us a good start,” said Director of Facilities Dennis Dunham.   

Also a round one recipient, the City of Everett used funding to replace old HVAC systems and controls and removed an un-insulated roof containing asbestos. The new energy saving equipment and insulated roof is expected to save Everett approximately $29,000 annually. “These grant funds helped us fix critical pieces of equipment and building structures that have outlived their useful life. The energy savings generated results in reduced operating costs that improve the city’s bottom line,” said Director of Facilities Carlton Gipson.

Round two recipients of Energy Efficiency Grants are:

Higher Education Awards:

Applicant

Award

Location

Big Bend Community College

$472,032

Moses Lake

Community Colleges of Spokane

$80,000

Spokane

Green River Community College

$453,000

Auburn

Highline Community College

$196,877

Des Moines

Olympic College

$1,025,000

Bremerton

Pierce College

$825,000

Lakewood

Shoreline Community College

$349,643

Shoreline

UW Friday Harbor Laboratories

$533,147

Friday Harbor

UW Main

$978,555

Seattle

UW Medical Center

$496,769

Seattle

Washington State University

$1,445,627

Pullman

Yakima Valley Community College

$503,000

Yakima

Total

$7,358,650


Local Government Awards:

Applicant

Award

Location

City of Bremerton

$500,000


City of Camas

$110,711


City of Centralia

$500,000


City of Edmonds

$187,566


City of Everett

$191,949


City of Kirkland

$208,000


City of Lacey

$108,000


City of Olympia

$500,000


City of Port Townsend

$500,000


City of Renton

$500,000


City of SeaTac

$100,562


Grays Harbor County

$170,000

Montesano

Island County

$367,000

Coupeville

Island Hospital

$164,850

Anacortes

Kitsap County

$33,634

Port Orchard

Kittitas County

$330,384

Ellensburg

Lakehaven Utility District

$368,411

Federal Way

Lincoln County

$252,493

Davenport

LOTT Clean Water Alliance

$352,120

Olympia

Mason County

&499,500

Shelton

Model Irrigation District 18

$40,500

Spokane Valley

Okanogan County

$500,000

Okanogan

Port of Longview

$45,744


Port of Seattle

$384,450


Port of Tacoma

$197,532


Samaritan Healthcare

$214,535

Moses Lake

Skagit County

$103,419

Mount Vernon

Spokane County

$500,000

Spokane

Thurston County

$189,125

Olympia

Whitman Hospital & Medical Center

$500,000

Colfax

Total

$8,620,485





 

Local Governments Small Cities and Towns

 

Award


City of Blaine

$500,000


City of Buckley

$325,000


City of Mabton

$68,229


City of Pateros

$500,000


City of Royal City

$244,812


City of Tenino

$300,000


City of Ruston

$24,750


Total

$1,962,791


The grants were awarded through a competitive process and must be used solely for energy and operational cost saving improvements. Projects for the second round of funding were selected from 60 grant applications requesting a total of more than $23 million.

For more information, visit the Energy Efficiency page on the Department of Commerce website.

Editor's Note: Information from the state Department of Commerce.


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