The Maryland Energy Administration (“MEA”) is providing the Fiscal Year 2022 Commercial, Industrial & Agricultural Grant Program (“FY22 CI&A Program”) to Maryland commercial, industrial, farms, and other agricultural entities for the implementation of energy efficiency improvement projects to their facilities.
Donor Name: Maryland Energy Administration
State: Maryland
Counties: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 12/28/2021
Size of the Grant: $3,350,000
Details:
The FY22 program has a total anticipated budget of $3,350,000, which will be divided into two separate application periods to best support energy efficiency projects for agriculture, manufacturing, and businesses that may be in varying planning stages.
Subject to funding availability, the FY22 program has a total budget of $3,350,000, which will be divided into two separate application periods to best support energy efficiency projects for agriculture, manufacturing, and businesses that may be in varying planning stages.
Eligible Activities
The FY22 CI&A Program is available for projects that increase the energy efficiency of electric and non-electric fuel consumption of existing facilities or dedicated spaces within buildings. This program does not include transportation fuel usage. Examples of possible energy efficiency measures include but are not limited to the following:
- Building insulation and envelope improvements
- Lighting and Controls
- Motors and variable frequency drives (VFDs)
- Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) upgrades
- Refrigeration
- Retro-commissioning or recommissioning
- Energy data analytics and operational changes to improve energy efficiency
Eligible Applicants
To be considered for a grant award, an application must be complete, accurate, and signed by an authorized representative of the business owner. Contractors may not apply on behalf of clients.
- AOI 1: Commercial & Industrial Sector
- Businesses (registered corporations, LLPs, LLCs, GPs, etc.)
- Manufacturers & Industrial Entities
- Nonprofit Organizations
- Private Schools (Pre-K, K – 12)
- Privately-owned Colleges and Universities
- Other types of commercial buildings on a case-by-case basis
- AOI 2: Agricultural Sector
- Farms and Businesses in the Agricultural sector
- Entities that fall within NAICS Codes 11
Minimum Criteria
At minimum, each proposed project must meet the following requirements:
- Be located in an existing facility within the State of Maryland which is owned or leased by the Applicant organization;
- Reduce total facility energy (electricity and non-electric (thermal) energy) consumption by at least 18% (AOI 1) or 10% (AOI 2) of its baseline consumption on a MMBTU/year basis. For example, if a project proposes only electricity measures, the 18% requirement applies only to its electricity baseline. If it employs thermal-only measures, the 18% requirement applies only to its thermal baseline. If it employs both types of measures, the combination of saved energy must achieve 18% in MMBTU savings from its combined electricity and thermal baselines;
- Must be cost-effective—where cost-effectiveness is defined as an overall aggregate simple payback of the energy efficiency measures before the application of rebates, incentives, and other leveraged funds of up to twenty (20) years, depending on the type of energy measures being proposed. All measures must have a payback shorter than the expected lifetime of the installed equipment. MEA typically uses the Mid-Atlantic Technical Reference Manual to establish the anticipated life of equipment. While other resources may be used, MEA reserves the right to determine acceptable payback periods;
- Be composed of at least two (2) significant energy conservation measures (“ECMs”) that replace or improve existing equipment, technology, or building envelope/materials. To be considered a separate ECM, each measure shall utilize at minimum 10% of the total project costs before the application of rebates, incentives, and other leveraged funds.
- Have a total cost, before the application of rebates, incentives, and other leveraged funds, of at least $20,000.
- If located within one of Maryland’s five major utility service territories (BGE, PEPCO, Potomac-Edison, Delmarva Power & Light, SMECO) that offer commercial EmPOWER utility rebates for energy efficiency measures, Applicants must either apply for eligible measures within their projects or submit formal intent to MEA to apply.
For more information, visit Commercial, Industrial & Agricultural Grant.