OED Awards Community Conservation Grants
The Indiana Office of Energy Development has awarded more than $170,000 in Community Conservation Challenge grants. The department says the funds will be used to support projects that reduce energy consumption or generate energy from renewable sources.
The recipients are from Marion, Shelbyville and Muncie. The OED says diversifying energy sources and reducing energy consumption may reduce the recipients’ exposure to fueling price shocks and improve access to affordable, reliably energy.
Marion Utilities will receive $80,000 to add oil and grease receiving stations, which the OED says "will increase the production of biogas and alleviate the need for supplementing the fuel ration with natural gas." The utility will save an estimated $34,000 each year through the process which, according to the OED, will:
- Boost methane production;
- Ensure the CHP generator is fully sustainable on 100% methane;
- Save oil and grease haulers time and money by providing a centrally located dump station and;
- Move closer to becoming net zero regarding energy consumption at the wastewater treatment plant.
The OED has awarded nearly $75,000 to the Shelbyville Water Resource Recovery Facility, which will use the grant to replace its light bulbs with LED bulbs. The facility will also install a solar photovoltaic system on the roof of one of its buildings, which the OED says will offset about 1.3 percent of utility consumption. Additional solar PV systems will be installed in the future. The effort is estimated to save the WRRF about $23,000 annually.
The YMCA of Muncie will receive nearly $20,000 in an effort to eliminate more than 1,000 electrical ballasts and fluorescent light tubes with non-ballasted LED tubes in all light fixtures at the Apple Tree YMCA. The organization says it will save an estimated $8,000 each year as a result.