BRATTLEBORO — The Windham Regional Commission has released the Request for Proposals for the newly developed Windham County Renewable Energy Grant Program.
The Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund awarded $400,000 to the Commission to develop a funding program to support renewable energy projects in Windham County. The program will focus on small-scale projects. Award amounts begin at $10,000, with a maximum of $320,000.
The funds for the program are among those within the Development Fund that were earmarked for Windham County in the settlement agreement negotiated between the state and Entergy Vermont Yankee in December 2013.
The program will directly benefit Windham County while furthering the goals of the Development Fund and the State of Vermont by investing in clean, renewable energy contributing to Vermont's ever-greening energy portfolio.
“Windham County offers great small-scale renewable energy generation opportunities. Properly sited projects developed with input from the public can be community assets that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help us transition away from reliance upon nonrenewables,” said the Commission's Executive Director Chris Campany in a news release.
“Like sustainable agriculture, renewable energy generation is 'place-based,' and it is at its best when it works with the attributes of the site and is a good fit within the larger context of the site,” he added.
The program was developed with guidance from the input of community members throughout Windham County on what priorities they have for renewable energy generation in the county.