Golden, Pingree seek changes in guidelines for energy efficiency funding

U.S. Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District, and Chellie Pingree, D-Maine 1st District, are pushing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make redevelopment in former mills eligible for federal energy efficiency grants.

The Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP, provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. Since 2018, the program has awarded more than $200 million for projects across Maine.

“We have seen the success of REAP funding across the state of Maine,” they wrote to Thomas Vilsack, secretary of the USDA.

The “unique nature” of former mill sites “warrant USDA expeditiously reviewing REAP applicant requirements to ensure that projects that both benefit the local area and ensure efficiency improvements are given the opportunity to apply for REAP funding rather than be left out entirely,” they said.

Pingree and Golden said that outdated rules exclude projects in Jay and Skowhegan from accessing funds to improve energy efficiency.

REAP applicants must provide data showing how much energy was consumed at the site in the past. USDA uses the data to establish how the applicant’s proposal could improve efficiency or reduce consumption.

The problem, they said, is that while mills like those that once operated in Skowhegan and Jay required a lot of energy, their net energy consumption was often low — a result of how much heat is produced by large machinery.

So entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to redevelop the mills for new purposes are excluded from REAP grants, even if the proposals could improve energy efficiency. Additionally, mills that have been shuttered for more than five years or that lack historical data are ineligible.

According to the release, USDA officials told Golden and Pingree earlier this year that they were considering solutions to better support those types of projects, including potentially changing historical energy usage requirements or establishing a new program for non-operational mill sites altogether. But the agency has provided no updates since.