Delaware News

DNREC Division of Energy & Climate announces changes to Energy Efficiency Investment Fund availability

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Climate, Coastal and Energy | Date Posted: Friday, February 19, 2016



DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Energy & Climate has announced that the Energy Efficiency Investment Fund (EEIF) is no longer accepting new applications for the prescriptive portion of the funding program, and that custom applications will be considered on a modified basis. In addition, Energy Assessment Grant applications will no longer be accepted.

Established in 2011, the EEIF was created to help Delaware businesses make strategic investments in capital equipment and facility upgrades to help lower operating costs, reduce energy consumption and improve environmental performance. The fund was intended to be capitalized annually with the first $5 million in public utility tax receipts. The program was fully funded for its first two years of operation, and continued with reduced funding for two additional years. For fiscal year 2016, no new funding was appropriated, necessitating the suspension of select portions of the program.

All prescriptive and custom applications received prior to July 1, 2015 will continue to be reviewed and approved accordingly. However, prescriptive applications – including prescriptive lighting and lighting controls, vending misers, and natural gas heating and water heating equipment – that were received on or after July 1, 2015 will not be considered. Custom applications received on or after July 1, 2015 will be considered on a modified basis, as the custom portion of the program is still accepting modified custom applications for process and manufacturing improvements, compressed air systems, pumping systems and variable speed drives.

“The EEIF program has experienced a significant increase in the number of applications resulting from the prescriptive application process that was introduced with the re-launch of the program in July of 2014,” said Energy Program Administrator Robert Underwood, Division of Energy & Climate. “In the first three years of EEIF through Fiscal Year 2014, there were 56 applications awarded. By comparison, 322 applications were awarded in Fiscal Year 2015 alone.”

“We understand that these changes will affect our valued business partners and contractors in the short term, but we continue to work on innovative ways to reestablish funding for the program that will allow us to fully open EEIF in the future,” Underwood added.

For more information the EEIF, please visit the Energy Efficiency Investment Fund pages.

Media Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 46, No. 51

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DNREC Division of Energy & Climate announces changes to Energy Efficiency Investment Fund availability

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Climate, Coastal and Energy | Date Posted: Friday, February 19, 2016



DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Energy & Climate has announced that the Energy Efficiency Investment Fund (EEIF) is no longer accepting new applications for the prescriptive portion of the funding program, and that custom applications will be considered on a modified basis. In addition, Energy Assessment Grant applications will no longer be accepted.

Established in 2011, the EEIF was created to help Delaware businesses make strategic investments in capital equipment and facility upgrades to help lower operating costs, reduce energy consumption and improve environmental performance. The fund was intended to be capitalized annually with the first $5 million in public utility tax receipts. The program was fully funded for its first two years of operation, and continued with reduced funding for two additional years. For fiscal year 2016, no new funding was appropriated, necessitating the suspension of select portions of the program.

All prescriptive and custom applications received prior to July 1, 2015 will continue to be reviewed and approved accordingly. However, prescriptive applications – including prescriptive lighting and lighting controls, vending misers, and natural gas heating and water heating equipment – that were received on or after July 1, 2015 will not be considered. Custom applications received on or after July 1, 2015 will be considered on a modified basis, as the custom portion of the program is still accepting modified custom applications for process and manufacturing improvements, compressed air systems, pumping systems and variable speed drives.

“The EEIF program has experienced a significant increase in the number of applications resulting from the prescriptive application process that was introduced with the re-launch of the program in July of 2014,” said Energy Program Administrator Robert Underwood, Division of Energy & Climate. “In the first three years of EEIF through Fiscal Year 2014, there were 56 applications awarded. By comparison, 322 applications were awarded in Fiscal Year 2015 alone.”

“We understand that these changes will affect our valued business partners and contractors in the short term, but we continue to work on innovative ways to reestablish funding for the program that will allow us to fully open EEIF in the future,” Underwood added.

For more information the EEIF, please visit the Energy Efficiency Investment Fund pages.

Media Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 46, No. 51

image_printPrint

Related Topics:  ,


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.