The Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has teamed with the city of Boston to seek a $60 million federal stimulus grant to upgrade the energy efficiency of whole neighborhoods and communities across the state, including funding for a project in the city’s Blue Hill Avenue corridor that would incorporate energy efficiency, rental housing and green jobs components.
The funding is part of $390 million available nationwide from the federal Department of Energy (DOE) under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-funded "Retrofit Ramp-Up" program. Within 90 days, the DOE is expected to fund up to 20 awards of $5 million to $75 million each to programs designed to catalyze energy efficiency upgrades nationwide.
"The Patrick administration is pleased to partner with the city of Boston in seeking this important pool of funding for the state and the city," Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said. "By penetrating entire neighborhoods, the Retrofit Ramp-Up program offers a unique opportunity to lower utility bills across communities, creating local jobs as well as more comfortable spaces for people to live and work."
If approved, the state would put approximately $45 million toward competitively selected community-scale energy retrofit efforts in cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth. Approximately $15 million would be used by the city of Boston for a comprehensive energy retrofit program in Boston’s Blue Hill Avenue corridor.
With more than 60 percent of corridor residents living in rental housing and many spending more than 10 percent of household income on energy costs, Boston’s Renew Boston Rental Property Retrofit Program is intended to persuade landlords to invest in comprehensive energy efficiency upgrades that benefit their tenants, according to a statement.
"These clean energy investments will not only improve area homes, but they will transform lives by significantly lowering utility bills and will create good paying green jobs for local residents," said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. "This represents the true promise of a clean energy future for Boston and the Commonwealth, a future where Blue Hill Avenue becomes a green corridor of opportunity for all."
The program is anticipated to produce annual energy bill savings of $8.6 million after three years, according to a statement.
Meanwhile, the proposal is projected to create or retain by the end of the three-year project 4,780 green economy jobs statewide, including weatherization contractors, HVAC vendors and installers, energy assessors and program support personnel.
