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375
Recipients Receive $17.5 Million for Renewable Energy &
Energy Efficiency Projects
On Wednesday, August 30, United States Department of
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced the recipients of
the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency
Improvements Program, Sec. 9006 of the 2002 Farm Bill (P.L.
107-171). Of the
total 375 project awards, were efficiency projects and 122
were renewable energy projects. These
awards are in addition to the 12 grant and guarantee loan
recipients announced on August 8th (see
EESI release for more information).
This represents a significant increase in the number of grants
awarded, but a decrease in the average size of the grant
awards. There were
619 applications for the grants and guaranteed loans from 36
states, with 63 percent receiving funds.
Projects include those that derive energy from a wind,
solar, biomass, or geothermal source, or hydrogen derived from
biomass or water using wind, solar, or geothermal energy
sources.
The
application period ran from Feb. 13, when the Notice of
Funding Availability (NOFA) was published, to May 12, 2006 and
July 3, 2006 for grant and guaranteed loan applications,
respectively.
The
FY 2007 Agriculture Appropriations bill has been approved by
the full House, but still must be acted upon by the full
Senate. These bills must be conferenced and passed by the end
of this fiscal year (September 30, 2006). The House bill
maintains full funding for Sec. 9006 at $23 million and the
Senate Appropriations Committee increased funding to $25
million.
A
full analysis of the recipients will be released by EESI
within the next week.
Click
here for a full list of recipients.
Click
here for the USDA Press Release.
Click
here for a PDF of the EESI release.
If you have questions,
please email or call Jetta Wong at jwong@eesi.org
or (202) 662-1885.
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