Hawaii receives $3.8 million for energy conservation

U. S. Representative Neil Abercrombie today announced that the City and County of Honolulu is receiving $3,863,700 for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The block grants are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to help communities improve their energy efficiency, reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions, and create green jobs locally.

“Ultimately, this helps families save money on utility bills,” said Rep. Abercrombie, “because the more energy efficient Hawaii’s communities are, the smaller our overall energy demand and the less fuel we’ll need to generate electricity.”

Activities eligible for grants funding include home and business energy audits and building retrofits, the development and implementation of advanced building codes and inspections, and the creation of financial incentive programs for energy efficiency improvements.

“The other sustained benefit to these grants is the creation of new green jobs, from conducting energy audits and retrofitting buildings, eventually to the creation of Hawaii businesses to manufacture energy efficient equipment.”