Ypsilanti's Clean Energy Coalition wins $50K energy grant

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

The Clean Energy Coalition continues to rake in the government grant money, taking in another six figures to help spread the gospel of energy efficiency.

The Ypsilanti-based non-profit received $58,300 from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, & Economic Growth to help communities become more energy efficient and utilize more clean energy outlets. The Clean Energy Coalition's money will allow it to do this in 37 small communities (35,000 people or less) in south and south-central Michigan.

"We'll be doing things like helping them with energy audits of their facilities and setting up monitoring systems of their energy systems," says Sean Reed, founder and executive director of the Clean Energy Coalition.

The Clean Energy Coalition has received millions of dollars in state and federal grants over the last year. Most of that money is geared toward pushing for more energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions in transportation.

The Michigan Municipal League Foundation, also received a $58,396 state grant. The Ann Arbor-based organization will use it to do the same thing in the southwest, western and northern portion of the state.

The grants are part of a $195,996 grant from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, & Economic Growth. The funds originally came from the federal stimulus package. That money will help 125 municipalities receive technical assistance on becoming more sustainable from four non-profits. That basically means it will help these communities make their facilities more energy efficient through things like energy audits and harness renewable energy sources.

The other two non-profits to receive funding are the WARM Training Center in Detroit, which will cover southeast Michigan, and the Michigan Energy Options in East Lansing for communities in the state's Upper Peninsula.

Source: Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, & Economic Growth and Sean Reed, founder and executive director of the Clean Energy Coalition
Writer: Jon Zemke