4/4/2009
County Executive finally listens to Councilman Weiner's advice to apply for DOE stimulua funds - Delaforum.com

Note: A month ago, Councilman Bob Weiner had provided detailed directions to the Coons Administration on how to apply for Department of Energy Stimulus funding. There was no follow up until recently. 

It looks as if New Castle County government will get a federal stimulus energy-efficiency grant after all. And, thanks to its efforts, so may county governments in six other states.

"It could be a significant amount," County Executive Christopher Coons told officials of 'umbrella' civic organizations. He said at their bi-monthly meeting on Apr. 2 that he had been notified that the U.S. Department of Energy had acknowledged that Delaware's three counties were overlooked when the state's eligibility for  $9.6 million was apportioned. The $3.2 billion energy program provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act specifies that counties with a population of 200,000 or more are eligible for grants. Delaware is one of seven states where no counties were included in the original eligibility allocations.

When that was discovered during its continuing monitoring of the law, Coons's office immediately contacted Vice President Joseph Biden's staff. Biden has been given responsibility for seeing to it that the economic stimulus law is fairly applied. Installation of solar-energy panels on large county-owned buildings has been high on the county's wish list since a stimulus package was first talked about during the pre-inaugural transition to the Obama administration. Coons said the Government Center building in Corporate Commons would be the first to be paneled if the money does come through.

Back to the News Summary

Have news? Please contact me!

Give Bob a "like" on Facebook: