Grant to help community save on electric usage

For some time we have been thinking about ways to let our community know what is going on in your local government.  So here is the maiden voyage of news from your local governments.

    This past week we received news that the EECBG grant for Boundary County had been approved.  This is a great example of the local governments of our community working together to identify the greatest needs. 

    The EECBG grant was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Stimulus Money. The purpose of the EECBG Program is to assist cities and counties in creating and implementing strategies to; reduce fossil fuel emissions, reduce total energy use, and improve energy efficiency.

    In Idaho, cities and counties could apply for the competitive grant program for up to $100,000 each, or multiple jurisdictions could apply jointly.  In our case Boundary County, the city of Moyie Springs, and the city of Bonners Ferry applied jointly for a total project cost of $287,146.

    What will this do?

     Improved heating, lighting, doors and windows at the Restorium.  Improved heating and air conditioning at the Bonners Ferry City Hall and Fire Station. Insulate Moyie’s shop and fire station. Upgrade the lighting, heating, air conditioning at the hospital and Hospital education center.

The estimated energy savings from these projects is around 380,000 kilowatt hours per year.  Said another way, this is more than $20,000 of utility bills that can go to better serve our community.

    Kudos to those who worked hard and collaboratively to make this grant application successful. Going forward we expect to also have this synergy work towards implementing many of these improvement together.

    Editor’s note: Stephen Boorman is the city administrator for Bonners Ferry.