The State Comptroller’s office sent letters out recently to many city and county officials regarding grant money allocations that may be available to them as part of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program.
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is providing more than $45 million to the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO), a part of the Comptroller’s office, for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. This money will be available to small cities and counties that did not receive a direct allocation from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under this program.
In an effort to ensure that the 1,127 cities and 244 counties in Texas that are not receiving direct dollars from DOE are able to benefit from this funding.
Eligibility is based on 2007 population Census estimates for incorporated cities with population under 35,000 and for counties under 200,000.
Currently the City of Brownwood is eligible for $50,000 and Brown County is eligible for $75,000.
The purpose of the program is to provide funds to units of local and state government, Indian tribes and territories to develop and implement projects to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions in their communities.
The timeline for the Block Grant program will be as follows, from date of announcement packet to claim the grant money:
- Notice of Intent Form due within 45 days;
- Resolution due within 60 days;
- SECO Stimulus will send out a final allocation letter and an application to accepting communities within 75 days;
- Application due within 90 days;
- Within 180 days, the Comptroller and the city/county will execute a grant agreement that contains all the requirements and obligations related to expending EECBG funds;
- EECBG funds must be obligated within six months of the effective program award date; and
- EECBG funds must be expended within 36 months of the effective program award date.
More information is available at http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/