PLUS Network member The City of Montpelier, Vermont received a welcomed announcement last week of $8 million (US) to fund a new combined heat and power district energy system that will run on locally sourced wood chips. Gwendolyn Hallsmith, Director of the city’s Department of Planning and Community Development said, “It's a great day for Montpelier. We're well on our way to implementing the dream of enVision Montpelier and becoming this country's first sustainable state capital. This is the largest and most competitive grant I've ever written and it was done with the input of many people and organizations. Only five awards were made nationwide.”

 

Below is the announcement form the White House:

Secretary Chu Announces More Than $20.5 million for Community Renewable Energy Deployment Projects

"Will help promote widespread renewable energy installations and create jobs."

Washington, DC— U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today the selection of five projects to receive more than $20.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support deployment of community-based renewable energy projects, such as biomass, wind and solar installations. These projects will promote investment in clean energy infrastructure that will create jobs, help communities provide long-term renewable energy and save consumers money. They will also serve as models for other local governments, campuses or small utilities to replicate, allowing other communities to design projects that fit their individual size and energy demands.

“Smaller, more localized renewable energy systems need to play a role in our comprehensive energy portfolio," said Secretary Chu. “These projects will help create jobs, expand our clean energy economy, and help us cut carbon pollution at the local level.”

The selected projects will be leveraged with approximately $167 million in local government and private industry funding. DOE estimates that these projects will provide enough clean, renewable energy to displace the use fossil fuels to power approximately 10,700 homes.

Projects selected for awards include:

City of Montpelier (Montpelier, VT)

This project will further Montpelier’s energy goals by supporting installation of a 41 MMBtu combined heat and power district energy system fueled with locally-sourced renewable and sustainably-harvested wood chips. The CHP system will be sized to provide heating to the Vermont Capitol Complex, city owned schools, the City Hall Complex, and up to 156 buildings in the community’s designated downtown district for a total of 176 buildings and 1.8 million square feet served. By providing 1.8 million KWh of power to the grid, the system will maximize its operating efficiency and reduce thermal costs for users in the community. Montpelier will conduct outreach to encourage replication regionally and nationally through its project partners, the Biomass Energy Resource Center, the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, and Veolia Energy North America. DOE share: $8,000,000