Renton Wins $500K Grant for New LED Streetlights

Governor Jay Inslee announced on Wednesday that nearly $18 million in grants to create jobs and to lower energy costs for 12 higher education institutions and 37 local governments, including a $500,000 grant to the city of Renton.

An estimated 543 jobs will be created by this construction spending. The total cost for all the projects is more than $66 million, including more than $48 million in non-state funding.

The grants were awarded through a competitive process only for energy and operational cost savings improvements. Renton's $500,000 grant will be put toward funding the replacement of replace city-owned streetlights with new LED streetlights, which use much less power yet provide more illumination.

The immediate goal of the state’s Energy Efficiency Grant program is to stimulate Washington’s economy by creating jobs.

"This is precisely the sort of program we need as we work to rebuild our economy," Inslee said. "These grants will reduce energy costs, provide training opportunities to students and create jobs in the clean energy sector."

The long-term goal of the program is to reduce energy costs at the state’s public higher education institutions and local government facilities.

"The upgrades provided by these grants, such as new lighting, boilers, and water-saving plumbing, put people to work right away, and the energy efficiencies will save money for Washington taxpayers well into the future," said Commerce Director Brian Bonlender. "The program stretches grant dollars by leveraging funding from non-state sources."

The 2012 Legislature appropriated $20 million to higher education and $18 million to local governments, including a specific set aside of at least 10 percent for small cities or towns (populations of 5,000 or less).

There have been two rounds of awards. The first recipients were announced in August 2012, including Community Colleges of Spokane and the City of Everett. CC Spokane was able to install a building-wide control system in two of their buildings, while the City of Everett used funding to replace old HVAC systems and controls and removed an un-insulated roof containing asbestos. The energy efficiency improvements for those two projects alone are expected to save approximately $41,000 annually.

Projects for the second round of funding were selected from 60 grant applications requesting a total of more than $23 million.

Round two recipients of Energy Efficiency Grants (which includes Renton) are:

Higher Education Awards:

Applicant

Award

Location

Big Bend Community College

$                          472,032

Moses Lake

Community Colleges of Spokane

$                            80,000

Spokane

Green River Community College

$                          453,000

Auburn

Highline Community College

$                          196,877

Des Moines

Olympic College

$                       1,025,000

Bremerton

Pierce College

$                          825,000

Lakewood

Shoreline Community College

$                          349,643

Shoreline

UW Friday Harbor Laboratories

$                          533,147

Friday Harbor

UW Main

$                          978,555

Seattle

UW Medical Center

$                          496,769

Seattle

Washington State University

$                       1,445,627

Pullman

Yakima Valley Community College

$                          503,000

Yakima

Total

$                       7,358,650

Local Government Awards:

Applicant

Award

City of Bremerton

$                          500,000

City of Camas

$                          110,711

City of Centralia

$                          500,000

City of Edmonds

$                          187,566

City of Everett

$                          191,949

City of Kirkland

$                          208,000

City of Lacey

$                          108,000

City of Olympia

$                          500,000

City of Port Townsend

$                          500,000

City of Renton

$                          500,000

City of SeaTac

$                          100,562

Grays Harbor County

$                          170,000

Island County

$                          367,000

Island Hospital

$                          164,850

Kitsap County

$                            33,634

Kittitas County

$                          330,384

Lakehaven Utility District

$                          368,411

Lincoln County

$                          252,493

LOTT Clean Water Alliance

$                          352,120

Mason County

$                          499,500

Model Irrigation District 18

$                            40,500

Okanogan County

$                          500,000

Port of Longview

$                            45,744

Port of Seattle

$                          384,450

Port of Tacoma

$                          197,532

Samaritan Healthcare

$                          214,535

Skagit County

$                          103,419

Spokane County

$                          500,000

Thurston County

$                          189,125

Whitman Hospital & Medical Center

$                          500,000

Total

$                       8,620,485

Local Governments Small Cities and Towns

Award

City of Blaine

$                           500,000

City of Buckley

$                           325,000

City of Mabton

$                             68,229

City of Pateros

$                           500,000

City of Royal City

$                           244,812

City of Tenino

$                           300,000

City of Ruston

$                             24,750

Total

$                       1,962,791

For more information, visit the Energy Efficiency page on the Department of Commerce website.

(Ed. Note: Information in the article above was provided by the Office of Washington Governor Jay Inslee.)