Frederick County and other local governments could receive millions of dollars for facility upgrades and clean energy generation projects through a new grant program Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced on Monday.
The Local Government Energy Modernization Program will provide $64 million in one-time funds to help local governments across the state cut costs and greenhouse gas emissions associated with their operations.
Shannon Moore, the director of Frederick County’s Division of Energy and Environment, said in a phone interview on Monday that the county can apply for up to $5.88 million in grant funds through the new program.
She said the county’s Energy and Environment Division has had extensive conversations with the Maryland Energy Administration, which will administer the new program, about local projects that could qualify for grant funding.
Among the possibilities are lighting upgrades, heating and cooling system replacements, insulation work, electrification of facilities that currently use fossil fuels and the installation of meters to collect data on energy use.
“These projects sometimes have a fairly large upfront cost, but then they pay themselves off within less than 10 years,” Shannon Moore said. “Having some cash available in a challenging financial environment is really helpful to get projects in the ground, and then they’ll provide returns for years to come.”
Frederick County could also put some grant money toward clean energy generation infrastructure, such as solar panels to be installed on rooftops, car canopies or underused parcels of county-owned land, Shannon Moore said.
Frederick County is already planning to construct a solar array with battery storage at its Prospect Center facility on Himes Avenue.
An onsite microgrid will be able to draw power from the solar array and keep the Prospect Center running during severe weather events and other interruptions.
The county is also looking into the possibility of solar panels for one of its new fire stations.
Frederick County would agree to cover 10% of the cost of any project funded through the program, Shannon Moore said.
Other counties may pay a larger or smaller share of project costs based on income. Maryland Energy Administration officials said this is to ensure that rural and under-served counties can participate fully in the program.
“The agency designed this program to be flexible enough to be tailored to local priorities so that every Maryland county — regardless of size or income — can take meaningful steps forward to cut costs and combat climate change,” MEA Director Paul Pinsky said in a press release on Monday.
Shannon Moore said the new state grant program is especially important now that federal grants for clean energy initiatives are being eliminated or reduced by President Donald Trump’s administration.
A government-to-government grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a charging and fueling infrastructure grant and a Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant from the Federal Emergency Management Administration for Frederick County have all been jeopardized by recent federal cuts.
“This grant will help with some of that,” Shannon Moore said. “It won’t help with the electric vehicles, but it will help with clean energy projects and building energy efficiency projects, so we’re excited about that.”
Of the $64 million in Local Government Energy Modernization Program grant funds, the state estimates that $50 million will go toward planning activities and renewable energy projects.
An estimated $10 million would be awarded for energy efficiency projects and the remaining $4 million would go toward electrification projects, according to Monday’s press release.
The MEA is accepting applications for the program through Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. More information can be found at tinyurl.com/LGEMprogram.