Rural Nebraska communities pull together to win renewable energy grants
A lot of people throughout the state of Nebraska had reason to be proud when the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development service awarded six farms and businesses grants for renewable energy system and energy efficiency improvement projects at the end of the summer.
The awards totaled $177,654 to two farm projects and four small businesses:
- $80,000 to construct a methane anaerobic digester on a hog farm, reducing the environmental impact of livestock manure while generating energy for the farm's needs. Excess energy will be sold to the local power supplier.
- $10,000 to assist with the construction of a 10-kW wind turbine to supply a portion of a farm's energy needs.
- $35,200 to the Gothenburg Feed Company to replace its natural gas alfalfa dryer with a new solid-fuel burner that uses 100-percent renewable waste wood, chips and sawdust that would previously be disposed of in a landfill.
- $10,000 to the Northeast Nebraska News Company to replace the heating and cooling system in two locations with energy-efficient heat pumps and replace a natural gas water heater with an electric unit.
- $11,547 to the Tarnished Halo floral and gift shop to make energy-efficient improvements in the shop space.
- $30,907 to Vantage Pointe Homes to assist with installing heat and insulation in its production plant.
"Our dollar amounts were not huge, but we were very pleased with the number of grants," said Program Support Manager Cliff Kumm with the USDA's Nebraska office.
Nebraska received the most grants of any state completely in Western's service territory. Two states partially served by Western fared even better, with Minnesota receiving 22 grants—the most of any state—and Iowa earning nine. The USDA awarded 113 grants in 24 states, totaling $21,207,233.
Publicity, networking alert businesses to funding opportunity
The Nebraska Rural Development office submitted nine applications for projects to develop renewable resources or improve the efficiency of existing systems. Kumm attributes the high selection rate to extensive promotion and strong support among the state's power providers for conservation and alternative energy sources. "There's no doubt it was a combined effort," he acknowledged. "The state Department of Environmental Quality, Nebraska Municipal Power Pool, Nebraska Public Power District and the local utilities all got involved."
Getting the word out to eligible farmers, ranchers and small businesses in communities of 50,000 people or fewer was an important first step. Rural Development ran announcements in local newspapers and agriculture and electricity industry press. David Tobias, who is building the wind turbine, learned about the grant from an advertisement in the Norfolk newspaper and attended one of a series of USDA public information meetings. The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality co-sponsored the meetings across the state.
Professional networks brought the funding opportunity to the attention of other applicants. Bridgeport City Administrator Finley deGraffenried, who helped the Tarnished Halo owners apply, heard about the grants through contacts in economic development, Sen. Charles Hagel's office and service providers.
An e-mail message from the USDA extending the application deadline caught the eye of Publisher Rob Dump of the Northeast Nebraska News Company. "I get hundreds of e-mails a day. It was dumb luck that I read that one," Dump admitted. "Once I did, I realized we had a shot at it."
Guidance helps applicants through Federal granting process
Dump called his utility, Cedar Knox Public Power District, which contacted NPPD. Technical Solutions Team Leader Cory Fuehrer performed the energy audit on the newspaper publisher's two offices, put together a plan to update the heating and cooling systems and analyzed the potential savings. Dump credits Fuehrer with doing the hardest part of the job. "You have to be willing to jump through a lot of hoops and fill out a lot of forms," he said. "Cedar Knox and NPPD really stepped up to the plate for us."
Kumm agreed that the application process for Federal funding is complicated and labor intensive. "People need all the help they can get, and these grants never would have happened if the power providers and municipal officials hadn't been there for their customers," he said.
NPPD also performed the audit of Vantage Pointe's production plant. "We want folks to realize that we are here to help them make the most of their energy dollars, right down to the residential customers," said Fuehrer. "We do energy audits for grant and loan applications. This particular grant keeps our focus on energy conservation."
NPPD and NMPP both publicized the Rural Development grants through employee newsletters and information briefs. Tarnished Halo co-owner Angie Lapaseotes worked with NMPP on her shop's audit. "We relied on the experts to make recommendations for improvements, and Finley did most of the paperwork," she recalled.
City manager deGraffenried wasn't the only local official to help out on a grant. When Hog Farmer Daniel Kluthe couldn't make it to the information meeting in his area, his county zoning administrator attended for him and later helped fill out the forms. "Chuck Meyers was a big supporter," said Kluthe, whose methane digester project may offer the county a means of reviving its declining hog industry. "People don't want hog farms in the area because of the smell. With the digester, you cut the odor way down and produce energy from a fuel that you never run out of."
Renewable development, energy efficiency are good for state economy
Therein lies the reason the Rural Development grants rallied Nebraska's government agencies, power and agriculture industries and small businesses. Each of the projects was beneficial not just for the grant recipient, but also for its community and the state as a whole.
Kluthe's anaerobic digester, Gothenburg's solid fuel alfalfa dehydrator and Tobias's interconnected residential wind turbine derive energy from different renewable resources to cut down on the use of fossil fuels. The digester and wood burner also dispose of waste material in an environmentally friendly manner.
By increasing the energy efficiency of its facilities, the Tarnished Halo will cut energy costs and improve productivity. In the case of Northeast Nebraska News Company, reducing energy costs by up to 50 percent will enable the small business to stay profitable and retain employees.
It seems in some small towns that everyone knows what everyone else is doing. But in Nebraska, you won't hear the Rural Development grant recipients complain about having friends who believe that saving energy and developing local renewable resources is everybody's business.
