The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) in Washington has started the process for the competitive award of $20M recently appropriated by the Washington Legislature for energy efficiency grants in K-12 schools. This latest appropriation continues an investment strategy by Washington State in using energy efficiency projects in schools as a means to create local construction jobs and reduce the operating expenses of school districts around the state. From the OSPI website announcing the new round of competitive funding;
$20 million is available for energy grant awards.
Grants are for projects using the “energy savings performance contracting method.” Projects that do not use this method must follow specific guidelines (see below).
One grant award of no more than $1 million per district is allowed.
A “Letter of Intent” must be submitted to OSPI as soon as possible.
An Investment Grade Audit (IGA) must be complete PRIOR to application. (An IGA completed during the 2009-2011 biennium is acceptable).
The new application Scoring Criteria are currently being developed and will include:
- Prior grant award (new criteria) Priority for districts who did not receive previous energy grant awards from OSPI or the WA State Department of Commerce in 2009 or 2010.
- Leverage ratio (new formula)
- Energy Savings (new formula)
- Persistence (new criteria)
For more information, visit OSPI at www.k12.wa.us.