SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Energy has announced $3 million of grant funding available for energy efficiency upgrades at public wastewater treatment plants. Grant awards ranging from $5,000 to $1.5 million will reduce the amount of energy consumed by wastewater treatment operations thereby reducing the energy burden for Illinois residents.
“We are excited to announce this funding opportunity and the second phase of the Wastewater Treatment Plant Energy Efficiency Program created by our Office of Energy earlier this year,” said Illinois EPA Director Alec Messina. “Illinois EPA has already partnered with fifteen Illinois municipalities that received no-cost energy efficiency assessments for their wastewater treatment systems under the ongoing first phase of the program.”
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The grant program seeks to invest U.S. Department of Energy State Energy Program funds in energy efficiency projects, some of which were identified by the no-cost assessments, that will result in the greatest energy cost savings for Illinois residents. Grant applications will be ranked according to multiple factors including the energy savings per dollar funded, the energy rate paid by the applicant facility, and the energy cost to treat one million gallons of water at the applicant facility. Application materials are available at Illinois EPA’s Office of Energy webpage. The application period closes on February 12, 2019.
The Illinois EPA Office of Energy strives to achieve energy equity by investing Department of Energy Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) funds in projects across the State that aim to reduce the energy burden for Illinois residents. In addition to the Wastewater Treatment Plant Energy Efficiency Program, the Office of Energy has also invested in upgrading Energy Code Training and Technical Support for local governments and building trades throughout the State. The Office of Energy also fosters investment in new, clean energy companies based in Illinois through the Illinois Clean Energy Innovation Fund. For more information about Office of Energy programming, including the Wastewater Treatment Plant Energy Efficiency Grant Program, please visit https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/energy/Pages/default.aspx.
Funding for the no-cost energy efficiency assessments and the grant program will be provided by the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Energy Program. More information on the State Energy Program is available at https://www.energy.gov/eere/wipo/state-energy-program.
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