Illinois e-News Release

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director John J. Kim has announced the award of $346,773.60 in grant funding to three Illinois wastewater treatment facilities as part of the Office of Energy’s Energy Efficiency at Public Water Infrastructure Program. The funded projects will reduce the amount of energy consumed by wastewater treatment operations, thereby reducing energy costs.

“The Energy Efficiency at Public Water Infrastructure Program brings together energy and environmental benefits,” said Director John Kim. “These upgrades will significantly reduce energy waste while optimizing the water treatment process.”

Grant applications were ranked by Illinois EPA based on the energy savings per dollar funded, energy cost impact, energy rate paid by the applicant facility, and energy cost to treat one million gallons of wastewater at the facility. Ranking also prioritized those facilities in areas of environmental justice concern. The $346,773.60 in grant funding will be leveraged by an estimated $152,693.40 in matching funds being applied toward the projects from the grantees. The grantees are:

• City of Danville, Vermilion County - $260,000.00

• Village of New Baden, Clinton County - $33,467.00

• City of Vandalia, Fayette County - $26,773.60

The grants will enable these municipal organizations to make energy efficiency upgrades to wastewater equipment identified by previous energy audits. These grants will save the three grantees 1,834,893 kWhs of energy annually, which translates to significant financial savings. The funds for the grant program are provided by the United States Department of Energy’s State Energy Program. The previous two funding rounds saved eight municipalities more than 8 million kWh and $650,000 in annual savings.

For more information about Office of Energy programming, including the Wastewater Treatment Plant Energy Efficiency Grant Program, please visit https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/energy/Pages/default.aspx