DATE: September 28, 2015
MEDIA CONTACT: Jason Liechty, Environmental Projects Coordinator
Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division
PHONE: 954-519-0310
EMAIL: jliechty@broward.org
BROWARD COUNTY, FL. - The US Department of Energy (DOE) selected Broward County and its Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact ("Compact") partners to share in up to $800,000 in technical assistance awarded nationwide to ten Climate Action Champions. The Compact was chosen as one of sixteen White House Climate Action Champions last year in a nationwide competition.
The technical assistance provided by DOE will help support the possible use of Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds (QECBs) in the Compact region. QECBs are a type of bond that allow states and local governments to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects at below-market rates. The federal government partly subsidizes the interest payments on the bonds issued by local governments, lowering the effective cost of borrowing.
Projects eligible for QECB funding include energy efficiency upgrades in public buildings, "green community programs" addressing energy efficiency, or renewable energy efforts among a broad segment of the public such as loan programs, mass transportation projects which will reduce emissions, and other energy-related programs.
Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties each received QECBs allocations, along with nine large municipalities in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The DOE technical assistance will assist these local governments in evaluating possible options for the use of the QECB financing and the highly specialized work in structuring these QECB bond issuances, should any of the local governments decide to move forward with QECB financing.
In their Climate Action Champions application, the Compact counties reaffirmed individual county-level greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and identified regionwide goals of 10 percent reductions by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.
About Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division
Broward County's Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division protects, restores and enhances the quality, abundance and diversity of the County's natural resources through coordinated management efforts in five areas: water resource policy and planning, urban and natural lands management, beach and marine resources, energy and sustainability, and environmental monitoring. For more information, call 954-519-1270, visit our website or follow us on Twitter.
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