$1 million grant program backs high-tech lighting

Southeast Michigan communities wanting to display the latest in lighting technologies have just over one week left to apply for grants to install LED, induction lighting, or plasma lighting demonstration projects.

The Michigan Energy Office has made a minimum of $1 million available to communities statewide, and expects to award about 15-20 grants in the range of $30,000 to $100,000 apiece. The application deadline is May 26, and communities must have their installations complete by June 30, 2012, says Jan Patrick, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program manager for the Michigan Energy Office (MEO).

The funds are the last of a nearly $20 million allocation for local government energy efficiency projects via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and came about as the result of a round of grants made in 2010, some of which were subsequently returned to the MEO for various reasons. Potentially more than $1 million will be available, which would mean funding for a few more projects, Patrick notes.

"We don't want to send any of that scarce energy efficiency money back to Washington. We want it all used here," Patrick says.

The MEO chose advanced lighting as the focus of this new round, Patrick explains, because in the last round of grants for LED lighting demonstrations, five times as many communities filed applications as there was money to give. State officials also saw the opportunity to support a nascent industry in Michigan.

"The great thing is is seeing these half a dozen new industries - some of which were involved with the car industry, and they used to do lighting for taillights and headlights and so forth -  and they made the jump into municipal lighting," she notes. "… we chose lighting, in part because it was so popular before and we weren't able to meet the need, and in part because we saw the opportunity to stimulate the marketplace for these new companies that are still small and getting going."

Eligible demonstration projects include street lamps, traffic and crosswalk light signals, and lighting for parking structures and lots, as well as public building exteriors and interiors.

Says Patrick, "We're going to have communities pick and choose what kind of technologies they want to dabble in."

The following Washtenaw County communities took part in the $20 million EECBG grant program: The city of Ann Arbor received a $218,712 grant and leveraged another $84,000 to install demonstration LEDs. Ann Arbor Charter Township and Pittsfield Township expended $50,000 and $38,389, respectively, for energy audits and recommended energy conservation measures. Superior Township used $73,853 for energy audits and technical assistance follow-up. The village of Dexter installed $50,000 worth of LEDs.

Source: Jan Patrick, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program manager, Michigan Energy Office
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar