Stimulus RFP for Maine Municipalities Expected Shortly

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included significant grants to states and municipalities for energy efficiency and renewable energy incentives.  In Maine, these stimulus funds are primarily administered by Efficiency Maine, a program currently overseen by the Public Utilities Commission. Efficiency Maine recently updated its advisory board on its efforts to allocate federal stimulus funds. 

The first portion of stimulus money Efficiency Maine expects to release will be block grants to municipalities under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.  Maine received $11.2 million under the program, $1.68 million of which was given directly to Maine’s ten largest municipalities. Of the remaining funds, $6 million will be distributed to the remaining municipalities under a competitive grant program administered by Efficiency Maine. Efficiency Maine is currently developing the RFP/application form and is also working on developing a template to assist smaller municipalities who may lack the staff or expertise necessary to complete an application.

Efficiency Maine anticipates making the RFP available to municipalities within 14 days of the date the State receives notice of the grant award from US Department of Energy, which is expected shortly. At the advisory board meeting, Efficiency Maine provided some preliminary guidance on the application process:

• A cap of $85,000 for single entity applications and a cap of $1 million on multi-entity applications. Communities and counties are encouraged to work together on projects which benefit larger areas when practicable.
• Applicants may apply for any of the fourteen DOE-approved activities listed in recent guidance (e.g. installation of renewable energy facilities on government buildings, energy efficiency retrofits, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and residential and commercial energy audits). Efficiency Maine will also consider activities which are not specifically listed, but would meet the program's eligibility criteria.
• Activities not covered by other ARRA funding and/or that provide "immediate and substantial energy savings" may receive higher scores during the application judging process. These include: 

              -Financial incentive programs;

              -Energy efficiency retrofits;

              -Development and implementation of transportation programs;

              -Energy distribution;

              -Reduction and capture of methane and greenhouse gasses; and

              -Renewable energy technologies on government buildings.

We anticipate the RFP will be issued within the next 2-3 weeks. 

Please contact Tim Schneider or Pattie Aho if you have any questions or need further information relating to the DOE guidance on activities or need additional information.