Detroit Wins Advanced Lighting Technology Demonstration Grant
LANSING -- The Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced that the City of Detroit has won a $400,000 Advanced Lighting Technology Demonstration grant to upgrade street lights in six areas of the city.
MEDC president and CEO Michael A. Finney says the grant will "replace aging and inefficient lighting infrastructure with highly efficient LED lighting. The MEDC welcomes opportunities to work with public and private partners to promote business and industry throughout Michigan."
Funding for the project is coming from unspent administrative funds awarded to the Michigan Energy Office to manage the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant Program. Grant funds will be used to purchase approximately 580 energy-efficient LED street lights, which will replace inefficient mercury vapor lighting. The lights will be installed by DTE Energy and Detroit Public Lighting crews.
"This grant supports one of my key initiatives of helping to make our city safer by improving street lighting for our citizens," Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said. "We expect energy savings of about 60 percent across the project areas."
The six project areas include: Telegraph Road from Fullerton to Eight Mile Road; Fullerton Road from Ewald Circle to Schaeffer; Greenfield Road from Paul to Eight Mile Road; Hamilton, Fairway and Curtis between McNichols and Seven Mile; 14th Street from Grand Blvd. to Lawrence; and Waterman from N. Lafayette to West Vernor, Dix west of Vernor to Woodmere and Woodmere from Dix to Vernor.
Grants are administered through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, which began in 2009 and ends in 2012. The federal stimulus included more than $2.4 billion for the EECBG Local Government Program, making funding available nationally to reduce energy use and improve energy efficiency in various sectors. In Michigan, $19.6 million was awarded to the state for administering competitive grants to small municipalities and $58.1 million was distributed to local governments and federally recognized tribes directly through this program.
For additional information on the Michigan EECBG Program, contact Jan Patrick, Manager, EECBG Program Manager, Michigan Energy Office at patrickj@michigan.gov.
The Michigan Energy Office is part of the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF), which receives administrative services from the MEDC. More at www.MichiganAdvantage.org.
