Seattle and Portland awarded $20 million each in energy stimulus funds
The City of Seattle and Portland's Clean Energy Works will both receive $20 million for energy efficiency retrofitting, creating thousands of new jobs.
The federal Department of Energy will grant the City of Seattle's Weatherize Every Building (WEB) initiative $20 million for energy efficiency retrofitting around the city. DOE also awarding another $20 million to Portland's Clean Energy Works, to expand the CEW program statewide in Oregon.
Officials estimate the grants will create thousands of new jobs -- 2,000 in Seattle alone.
With two Northwest cities receiving almost nine percent of the $452 million total in grants announced today, the region is again showing how leadership in the clean energy sector is resulting in jobs and economic benefit, while reducing energy use and global warming pollution.
(See also: Oregon gets $20m for efficiency program)
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Seattle gets $20 million in 'green' energy stimulus funds
The City of Seattle will get $20 million in federal stimulus funding for energy retrofits for structures like single family homes, businesses and hospitals.
Mayor Mike McGinn joined Vice President Joe Biden Wednesday at a White House announcement of the grant money from the Department of Energy's "Retrofit Ramp Up" program. Seattle was one of 25 communities to get money out of the more than 150 cities that vied for the $452 million from the program, the city said in a news release.
"Working with community and industry partners, our city has put together an aggressive and innovative strategy to create green jobs, save energy, and reduce carbon emissions through deep investments in energy efficiency," McGinn said in a statement. "The Ramp Up award will greatly increase the scale of our programs and enable us to pilot potentially game-changing approaches to financing and delivering energy efficiency projects."
The city will use the money to support the creation of the Seattle Neighborhood WEB (Weatherize Every Building) Initiative, a targeted energy efficiency retrofit effort that stretches from downtown to the Rainier Valley.
The retrofits will reduce an estimated 71,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, the city said, and create 2,000 jobs.
By Chris Grygiel in the Seattle PI
