HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda 11-02-23; 12-5 - Information Item - Memorandum - Orange County Is Partner in $1.5 Million Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Award from the U.S. Department of Energy 1
INFORMATION ITEM
ORANGE COUNTY
DEPARTMENT OF COUNTY MANAGER'S OFFICE
Memorandum
To: Board of County Commissioners
Bonnie Hammersley, County Manager
From: Amy Eckberg, Sustainability Programs Manager
Date: November 2, 2023
Subject: Orange County Is Partner in $1 .5 Million Energy Efficiency and
Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Award from the U.S.
Department of Energy
On October 12th, Durham County was announced as one of twelve selectees of the
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Competitive Program, a
funding opportunity from the Office of State and Community Energy Programs at the
U.S. Department of Energy. Durham County, the only entity in North Carolina to be
selected for the EECBG Competitive Program, was awarded $1.5 million to implement a
program that will reduce energy burdens and promote energy efficiency in marginalized
under-resourced neighborhoods in Durham, Orange, and Granville Counties.
The EECBG Competitive Program, funded by President Joe Biden's Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law, awarded $8.8 million in funding to twelve small-to-medium sized
local governments and state-recognized Tribes to use to implement projects and
programs in their communities that reduce fossil fuel emissions, improve energy
efficiency, reduce energy costs, and cut overall energy use. In addition to funding, the
program provides recipients with technical assistance, including training offerings and
access to experts.
The $1.5 million award will be used to fund the NC Energy Burden & Emissions
Reduction Program (EBERP), a collaboration between Durham, Granville, and Orange
Counties and several local partners. The goal of the EBERP is to reduce energy
burdens, build organizational capacity, and develop clean energy technical skills in rural
and urban neighborhoods across the three counties.
EBERP will conduct neighborhood-focused residential energy upgrades in Justice40
communities, overburdened and underserved communities most impacted by pollution
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and other environmental hazards. They will also conduct energy efficiency workforce
training efforts in disadvantaged communities.
Applicants for the EECBG Competitive Program were evaluated based on their project's
impact, their plans for community engagement, expected community benefits, the
viability of their plans, and the strength of their team.
This grant award speaks to Orange County's continued commitment to work alongside
our regional partners in order to strengthen and maximize climate action initiatives that
prioritize under-resourced neighborhoods in our community. The EECBG grant award
directly speaks to action BE 3.1.1 of Orange County's Climate Action Plan:
Action: BE 3.1.1 Support energy efficiency programs and partners that provide
energy efficiency services and education that reduce emissions, improve
standards of living, support the local economy and bolster workforce
development in historically-disadvantaged communities.
This regional grant project was inspired by and is being modeled in part by the work that
was done through the Neighborhood Energy Resiliency Project (NERP), a grant award
through Orange County's Community Climate Action Grant program.
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