MONTGOMERY—Gov. Bob Riley has awarded economic stimulus grants totaling $839,152 to help four local governments in southeast Alabama save energy and reduce utility bills by making improvements to their facilities. 

Riley awarded grants of $250,000 each to Andalusia, Ozark and Houston County and an $89,152 grant to Enterprise as part of $9.6 million in funding to be awarded under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program. The program helps local governments and nonprofit groups improve the energy efficiency of buildings and vehicles, reduce fossil fuel emissions and create or retain jobs.

“Making these improvements to our public buildings is a good economic and environmental investment,” Riley said. “In addition to providing work for construction professionals, the energy-saving steps we take today will save governments and taxpayers thousands of dollars in the future.”

Andalusia will replace 10 water pumps at the city’s wastewater treatment plant and central pumping station with new models that will use an estimated 25 percent less energy. City officials say the new pumps will save $18,487 in utility costs per year and create six temporary jobs.

Enterprise will replace old lighting fixtures at City Hall, E.A. "Moose" Hope Gym, the city’s Public Works building, the city Recycle Center, the city’s airport terminal and the Enterprise Water Works maintenance plant. The project will replace 1,000 lighting fixtures with models that that produce an equivalent amount of light using lower wattage bulbs. The new, more-efficient fixtures will save the city about $35,000 per year and create five temporary jobs, Enterprise officials say. The city is contributing $15,789 toward the project.

Houston County will upgrade lighting fixtures in the county’s administration building, courthouse, health department building, community corrections facility and farm extension office. The project also will include installation of a dehumidification system in the county administration building that will re-circulate heated and cooled air. County officials estimate that the upgrades will create 11 temporary jobs and save $81,969 in utility costs per year.

Ozark will replace the old heating and air conditioning system at East Gate Business Park, a small business incubator center, with 20 mini heat pumps, one for each business space in the building. The project also will include the installation of an individual power meter on each unit, so the fledgling businesses located in the center will pay only for the electricity they use instead of splitting the electricity bill in equal parts.  City officials estimate the new equipment will save $20,706 in annual heating and cooling costs and create six temporary jobs.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the awards from funds made available by the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Riley notified mayors Earl Johnson of Andalusia, Kenneth Boswell of Enterprise and Billy Blackwell of Ozark as well as chairman Mark Culver of the Houston County Commission that the grants had been approved.

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Contact: Mike Presley, Larry Childers