City gets stimulus funds energy grant

The city of Plymouth will receive a grant award of $141,600 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for energy-efficient replacement of steam boilers at one of its buildings and for the use fluorescent induction lighting technology in some of its streetlights.

Gov. Jim Doyle announced the Energy Efficient and Conservation Block Grant awards last week.

Plymouth’s grant will be used to replace two boilers at City Hall and to retrofit 68 streetlights along Mill Street. The projects are expected to reduce the city’s natural gas consumption by 5,500 therms and its electricity usage by 34,000 kilowatt-hours each year. That equates to lowering the city’s annual energy expenditures by $5,800.

The projects will cost $167,000 and the grant will cover 85 percent of that cost.

“The city of Plymouth is committed to helping lead the way to Wisconsin’s clean energy future,” Plymouth Mayor Donald Pohlman said in a press release announcing the grant. “Conserving and saving energy will help make our community a better place to live and work.”