FY19 Clean Energy Communities Low-to-Moderate Income Grant Program
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The Maryland Energy Administration’s (MEA) Low-to-Moderate Income (LMI) Energy Efficiency Grant Program has provided thousands of LMI Marylanders with lower utility bills and more comfortable and healthy housing through energy efficiency upgrades. The LMI program awards grants to support cost-effective energy efficiency measures that show significant energy savings and pass those savings along to Maryland’s LMI residents through lower utility bills or other benefits. The LMI program allows for a wide array of measures, including air sealing, HVAC, and ENERGY STAR appliance upgrades, to be installed in both residential and commercial buildings that serve LMI Marylanders.
# of Grants to nonprofits and local government organizations in fiscal year 2019 (FY19)
|
Range of Grant Amounts
| Annual Cost Savings from All Awards
|
24
| $72,000 - $400,000
| $350,937
|
The approximately $4.5 million dispersed through the FY19 LMI program resulted in significant energy savings in over 1,350 buildings. The FY19 projects also enabled 65,000 job hours, the equivalent of more than 31 full time equivalents (FTE) for one year, for those involved with installing the energy efficiency measures.
Case Studies
Building Change, Inc.
Building Change, Inc. is a non-profit organization located in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Their mission is to work with communities developing sustainable principles, policies, and community programs which seek to enhance citizen health and housing programs and/or reduce the cost of living. Building Change has leveraged MEA LMI grant funding to provide energy efficiency and weatherization services that have made a significant impact on the “energy burden” facing LMI Marylanders.
Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, Inc.
The Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, Inc. mission is to break the link between unhealthy housing and unhealthy families by creating and advocating for healthy, safe, and energy efficient homes. Since 2009, the organization has leveraged the MEA LMI program to deliver “healthy housing interventions” to over 500 homes in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. By focusing their efforts not only on measures that improve energy efficiency, but also a healthy living environment through improved indoor air quality, GHHI aims to provide both economic and social benefits to the families they work with.
Archived Program Information
The FY20 LMI program will be launching soon. Follow MEA on
Facebook or
LinkedIn to get updates on FY20 program launches.
** APPLICATIONS DUE BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2018 **
** PROGRAM OVERVIEW CONFERENCE CALLS SCHEDULED FOR:
Wednesday, October 3, 2018, from 1:00-3:00 pm
PLEASE SEE INFORMATION BELOW ON HOW TO REGISTER. **
Maryland Energy Administration Announces $4.8 Million in 2019 Grants for the Award Winning Clean Energy Communities Low-to-Moderate Income Program
The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) is offering a regional allocated platform under the Clean Energy Communities Low-to-Moderate Income Grant Program in the fiscal year 2019. With a total budget of up to $4.8 million, the platform is designed to support energy efficiency projects and activities for low-to-moderate income (LMI) Marylanders. As the program design has some modifications from previous years, MEA encourages all potential applicants to review the program documents carefully and to participate in one of the two program overview conference calls.
Please expand the drop-down menu below to get details regarding the available program, eligibility requirements, application documents, and the dates of informational conference calls for potential applicants.
The Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) Clean Energy Communities Low-to-Moderate Income Grant Program (Program) has been allocated approximately $4.8 million, subject to funding availability, from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund (“SEIF”) for energy efficiency projects. The Program funds (“Funds”) are available to entities that serve Maryland’s LMI residents.
Clean Energy Communities LMI grants (Grants) will be competitively awarded for energy efficiency projects that generate significant reductions in energy use and pass on the benefits of the savings to Maryland’s LMI residents. Projects that maximize energy savings per dollar of MEA investment and the number of LMI residents served will receive grant funding priority.
Funds are allocated to each Maryland Region (see map below) based on the number of LMI income households located within the respective Region in order to ensure an equitable distribution of grant funds. Grants will then be awarded competitively within the applicant pool for each Region.
The map below shows each region’s allocation of funds, which together total $4.8 million in FY19.
Projects implemented by nonprofit organizations local governments that provide energy efficiency and weatherization measures to LMI Maryland homes, as well as commercial buildings that primarily serve LMI Marylanders (e.g., a homeless shelter), are eligible for grant consideration.
For a more detailed description of eligible projects, please refer to the FY19 LMI Grant Program Application Instructions in the section below titled “How to Apply.”
All construction activities for each project selected for LMI Program grant funding from FY19 must be completed by August 1, 2020 with all invoices and project reports submitted to MEA no later than September 1, 2020.
Income limits
Grants
must be used to fund energy efficiency projects that benefit Maryland’s LMI income population. For the purposes of this application, low and moderate income households are defined as households with total household incomes that are less than 60% and 85%, respectively, of the median income for each Maryland county. While grants will be allocated based on region, income limits are based on the particular county in which a project is located. Income limits for 2018 (dated April 2018) can be found on the
Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) website; 60% income limits can be found on pages 10 and 11, and 85% income limits can be found on pages 18 and 19.
Emailed applications, the preferred method of submission, must be received by 11:59 p.m. EDT on October 26, 2018. All paper applications are due onsite at the Maryland Energy Administration by 5:00 p.m. EDT on October 26, 2018. No applications will be accepted after the deadline.
Conference Call
MEA recommends that each potential applicant participate in the following conference call for details on the FY19 Clean Energy Communities LMI Grant Program. MEA will cover changes to the Program in FY19, what makes a strong application, what makes a good project, how to apply to the Program, and the anticipated timeline for Grantee selection. The date and time are as follows:
· Wednesday October 3, 2018 from 1:00-1:30 pm
To reserve a place, please RSVP to either David Giusti or Dean Fisher. Conference call dial-in information will then be emailed to you.
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Previous Cycles of the LMI Program
Read about past cycles of the LMI Program.
Additional Questions
Please direct any questions about the LMI Grant Program to Dean Fisher (Phone: 410-537-4068), or David Giusti (Phone: 410-537-4072).
