WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2016 - USDA’s Rural
Utilities Service has
awarded the Vermont Energy Investment Corp. (VEIC) $46 million to support
energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements in rural areas across the
state. This is the largest Energy Efficiency and Conservation
Loan Program (EECLP) Rural Utilities Service project, in terms of both
financing and scale, since the EECLP’s launch in December 2013.
The award will help VEIC customers install renewable energy
systems and make energy efficiency upgrades, such as switching to cleaner and
more efficient fuel sources and installing energy efficient building upgrades.
The loan is expected to provide major benefits to rural
Vermont residents, businesses and communities. For example, the energy cost
reduction for farmers and food manufacturers, including family run dairies and
maple syrup producers, can help them remain competitive. The program will also help
build a cleaner and more sustainable domestic energy sector for future
generations by reducing barriers to investment in energy efficiency.
“This loan will reduce barriers to energy investments by
lowering the upfront costs, spreading these costs over 20 years and by making
financing more available,” says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “It also
will help residential, commercial, agricultural and industrial consumers in
rural Vermont reduce energy use and meet state and national energy goals.”
VEIC will operate and administer the program through Efficiency
Vermont, an energy efficiency utility with predominantly rural state-wide
service territory.
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