Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
During the regular meeting of the Greenville Town Council on Monday, Sept. 9, Acting Town Manager Victoria Kingston announced that the Town of Greenville is set to be the recipient of a $3 million federal grant from the Department of Energy. Greenville was one of 12 local governments and tribes nationwide to receive a share of over $31 million in project funding.
The funding is part of the Local Government Energy Program (LGEP) which focuses on “disadvantaged communities, energy communities and small-to medium-sized jurisdictions.” The program supports “federally recognized Indian Tribes and local governments to implement clean energy projects and programs that provide direct community benefits, spark additional investments, meet community-identified priorities and build local capacity.” The Town of Greenville applied for one of the Communities Sparking Investment in Transformative Energy (C-SITE) funding opportunities. Approximately 100 applications were received from across 38 states. On Thursday, Sept. 5, it was announced that Greenville was selected.
Greenville’s project, “Scalable Photovoltaic and Agrivoltaics Resilience for Communities” (SPARC) aims to “install rural agrivoltaics systems, retrofit community buildings with energy-efficient technologies and host education trainings and workshops to enhance resilience and economic stability. Build resilience during extreme weather and disruptions, increase energy literacy and inform replicable model[s] for rural U.S. Southeast.” Agrivoltaics, sometimes called agrisolar or dual use can be defined as the dual use of land for both solar energy production and agriculture. In some cases, certain crops can benefit from the shade provided by solar panels.
Kingston acknowledged the assistance of Dr. Shamarial Roberson and DSR Consultants in acquiring this funding grant.
