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New Program Offers Energy Efficiency Grants and Loans to Rural Small Business and Agricultural Producers
Gardiner buinesses seeking to make energy efficiency improvements have a new funding program to take advantage of! The United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program is now offering grants for rural small businesses and agricultural producers that wish to make energy efficiency upgrades, and/or convert their current energy system to a renewable energy system. Grants may cover up to 25% of total project cost with a minimum reward of $1,500 and a maximum award of $500,000. Loans are available for up 75% of project cost with a minimum guaranteed loan of $5,000 and a maximum of $25,000,000.
Examples of conversion to renewable energy systems would be converting to a system that produces and delivers energy from a renewable energy source; such renewable systems include wind power, biomass, anaerobic digester, geothermal, hydrogen, micro hydro, and solar power. Examples of energy efficiency upgrades must be verified by an energy audit or assessment and could include insulation, boiler, or window upgrades.
Candidates for the new program in Gardiner are considered eligible to apply, based on Gardiner's population (under 20,000). To further qualify, business owners must use their building only for business purposes, and cannot apply if the building is for mixed use (residential). An agricultural producer (individual or entity) qualifies if directly engaged in the production of agricultural products and obtains at least 50% or greater of their gross income from their agriculture business.
Eligible rural small business must be a private entity including a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and a cooperative (including a cooperative qualified under section 501(c) (12) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eligible rural small business must also be considered an entity that is considered a small business in accordance with SBA’s (Small Business Administration) small business size standards (by NAICS codes). SBA small size standards can be found at:
The deadline for submitting a grant application to the USDA (Bangor office) is July 31st. For more information, please contact Jason Simcock, Planning & Development Director, at 207-582-6888.
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