Local governments received $3.2 billion through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. The EECBG was funded via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in 2009, and is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Using these funds, over the past four years, local governments have implemented energy efficiency and conservation programs, developed sustainability plans, hired sustainability directors, and made other strategic investments to help meet the nation's long-term goals for energy independence and leadership on climate change.

The DOE recently shared the following successes of the program:

• Consistently rated a Top 15 job creating program of the Recovery Act from January 2011 through May 2013
• Performed energy upgrades of over 81,000 buildings, covering a total area of 674 million square feet (roughly the equivalent of 281,000 single family homes)
• Installed 9,635 Solar Energy systems, with a total capacity of over 300,000 kW
• Installed over 276,000 Energy Efficient Traffic Signals
• Installed 189,000 Energy Efficient Streetlights
• Installed timed traffic signals on 4,650 street lane miles of road (roughly the distance from Miami, Florida to Juneau, Alaska)

Congratulations to all EECBG recipients for your role in achieving these successes and for being the “recognized leaders on the forefront of energy efficiency” that the Department of Energy knows you to be. Imagine what you would accomplish with another round of funding?

Additional Resources:

• EECBG Website
• EECBG Success Stories
• Fulton County, Georgia success story video