NeighborWorks of Western Vermont won a $4.5 million grant for innovative energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.
The Rutland County nonprofit housing organization received the grant — one of only 20 nationwide — for its proposal to save energy and create jobs retrofitting homes and municipal buildings.
"Working with our partners we will be able to retrofit 40 percent of the homes in Rutland County for energy savings, create an estimated 352 jobs, and show the entire country what a single county in Vermont can do with resources and the determination to get it done, " says Ludy Biddle, Executive Director of NeighborWorks of Western Vermont.
The award comes through a nationwide energy efficiency block grant program created in legislation authored by Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sen. Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch played critical roles securing the grant funded by the economic stimulus bill Congress passed last year.