The city of Aurora is poised to receive more than $2.8 million in stimulus funds from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The city's Planning and Development Services Department filed an application last week, a formality that paves the way for the arrival of the funds that will pay for 14 citywide projects designed to save energy and create jobs.
The city worked closely with the Department of Energy to submit the grant application in record time, the key to receiving the funds, said Karen Hancock, the city of Aurora’s environmental program supervisor. The deadline is Dec. 20.
About $1.5 million of the $2,851,300 designated for Aurora based on energy use and population will be used to fund city of Aurora projects, such as retrofitting a portion of the city’s traffic signals with LED lights and updating building automation systems related to HVAC and lighting.
The roughly $1.35 million remaining will fund community projects mainly in the form of no-cost advanced energy audits, and rebates and revolving loan funds designed to assist property owners with making energy-saving improvements on homes and businesses. Examples of residential programs include rebates for adding insulation and weatherization sealing or solar hot water heating systems and loans for building owners to install solar electric, significantly defraying the costs associated with these measures.
Rebates will also be available to assist with energy saving improvements to commercial buildings. The rebates may provide up to double those offered already by the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office and Xcel Energy. “We know these projects will save people money, while giving our community members opportunities to reduce their environmental footprint,” Hancock said.
The stimulus funds are expected to generate a significant number of local jobs in areas such as permit and rebate processing, program marketing, energy auditing, and energy efficiency and renewable energy equipment installers.
Now that the application has been submitted, the Department of Energy has 120 days to review and approve the application. Once approved, the city will receive half of the funds initially, and the remaining half once proof of project implementation is provided. The funds must be obligated within 18 months, and spent within 36 months after award. If a project funds aren’t being spent quickly enough in one area, an amendment can be filed to allow for funds to be reallocated to another more successful project, Hancock said.
More information will be available in the coming weeks on the city’s Web site at www.auroragov.org.
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