By Steve Klamkin WPRO News
Rhode Island is helping six communities to finance $17.2 million in energy efficiency infrastructure improvements, in a first round of funding that is expected to create 263 jobs and save taxpayers more than $20 million in energy costs.
Pawtucket, Providence, Cranston, West Warwick, Westerly and Newport will share the first round of financing through the recently formed Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank.
“Two hundred people are getting good jobs,” said Gov. Gina Raimondo, as she announced the grants at Pawtucket City Hall, which will see new LED lighting and other improvements under the program. “It moves it toward a better place environmentally. We’re going to save a lot of energy and electricity, it’s good for the environment.”
General Treasurer Seth Magaziner said he created the Infrastructure Bank as a means to create jobs for people in the construction trades who were out of work, at a time when cities and towns were struggling to pay bills.
“With the first round now successfully concluding, we are turning our attention to the next round,” said Jeffrey Diehl, Chief Executive Officer of the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank, which listed the improvements planned during this first round of funding:
Cranston: Elementary School (boilers, chiller, lighting and lighting sensors, energy management system, ventilation, motors and drives)
Newport: Solar PV to support wastewater treatment operations
Pawtucket: Citywide LED streetlight retrofit; Library (programmable thermostats, occupancy sensors, energy management system); Police Annex (furnace, lighting, door seals); Public Works Facility (boiler, programmable thermostats, lighting, door seals and windows); Senior Center (unoccupied temperature set back); Public Safety Facility (lighting)
Providence: Fire Stations and Auxiliary Facilities (lighting, boilers, door seals, programmable thermostats, heating); Police Facility (boiler, lighting, roof insulation, heating conversion, door and window seals)
West Warwick: Citywide LED streetlight retrofit; Public Works Facility (insulation, heating fuel switching, lighting); Civic Center (insulation, lighting, motors and drives); Wind Turbine providing electricity for public buildings
Westerly: Citywide LED streetlight retrofit; Police Facility (lighting); Town Hall (lighting, heater replacement, motors, insulation); Public Works Facility (lighting); Solar PV on Public Works Facility (provides 64% of current electricity usage)
