Philadelphia, PA - The Philadelphia Inquirer:
City gets $14.1 million energy grant
October 9, 2009 06:00 AM
The grant, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - the economic stimulus package - is one of hundreds of energy-efficiency "formula grants," based mostly on population, going to states, counties, cities and tribes. Grants will total $2.7 billion.
The grant program sets specific core areas where the money could be used - building retrofits, conservation programs, and energy audits, for instance. Within that, Gajewski said, city officials picked projects "that were either under way and needed additional funding, or programs that were in the wings that we wanted to use as opportunity to get off the ground."
The city's 500 BigBelly solar-powered streetside trash compactors have proven so popular since being introduced last spring that the city plans to spend $973,000 to buy 260 more to place along commercial corridors.
Vandalism has been minimal - graffiti and a car hit is about the extent of it - and the city has saved fuel and employee time, because the bins have to be emptied twice a week instead of five times.