Department of Energy gives $745,000 to city

The U.S. Department of Energy announced that Bloomington will receive $745,000 from the federal stimulus to improve the energy efficiency of city-owned buildings and to stimulate the local economy.

The money is part of more than $42 million in funding the state will receive through the bill.

To receive the money, the city must provide a plan and submit an application to the Department of Energy by June 25, said Jen Stutsman, a spokesperson for the Department of Energy.  

Danny Lopez, communications director for the city of Bloomington, said the city has not yet decided how it will spend the money. The funding was announced just as the City Council passed a “green building” ordinance that will help make city buildings more efficient.

“It is still up in the air,” Lopez said. “We have to look at the criteria, but the timing is good.”

The city will submit the application in June.

Because the city had already budgeted for the green building ordinance, the extra funding will free up money for other city projects, Lopez said.  

The project will be handled by people from the Economic Development Commission, Housing and Neighborhood Development, Public Works and the mayor’s office, Lopez said.  

Stutsman said each city will decide how the money can be spent, but officials at the Department of Energy hope the money will go to projects such as reducing greenhouse gases and retrofitting existing buildings to be more energy efficient.

Stutsman said the funding will also help create jobs and promote transformation within the energy market that will hopefully last beyond the funding period.

The number of jobs created will depend on the programs the city funds with the grants, said Jeremy Sowders, vice president of the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation.  

Investing the money in the city will create direct and indirect jobs, Sowders said.
“Contractors can hire more people that will put money back into the economy,” he said. “It will create a ripple effect.”