Energy efficiency awards are thinly sliced for Oklahoma

By Jim Stafford

Published: August 29, 2008

Oklahomans claimed a thin slice of a $35 million pie in renewable energy and energy efficiency grant awards announced Thursday by the U.S. Agriculture Department.

State individuals and businesses claimed only five of 639 grants and guaranteed loans announced by Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer. The Oklahoma awards totaled about $880,000.

The program provides financial assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to support renewable energy projects across a wide range of technologies, as well as providing support for energy efficiency improvements.

Four of the five Oklahoma grants were for energy efficiency projects for poultry producers in eastern Oklahoma, said Brent Kissling, state director of the Rural Development Agency. The largest Oklahoma award went to Jensen International in South Coffeyville to help pay for a new furnace.

Among Okahomans the energy program is little known, which kept participation low for this year's awards, Kissling said.

"It's one of the most underutilized programs that we have here in this state, because it's for rural producers, rural businesses,” Kissling said. "Anybody that exists in a community of 50,000 or less can apply for one of these grants or loans and increase their energy efficiency within their business.”

The grants awards can pay for up to 25 percent of an energy efficiency or renewable energy project cost. As for loans, the agency will guarantee 80 percent of a participant's loan from a private lender.

Of the total awards announced Thursday, $27.5 million was in grants and $7.4 million for guaranteed loans.

"These projects are good for business, good for the economy, good for jobs and they help secure more self-sufficient energy resources for our country,” Schafer said in announcing the awards.

State rural development officials are scheduling informational meetings about the program for this fall, Kissling said.

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