The amount of ARRA money has not been disclosed yet but the Department of Public Works’ Energy Division has already informed Legislative Bureau Director Glenna SP Reyes that the LB will receive an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant through ARRA.
The grant, according to Energy Director Thelma B. Inos, will allow the LB to install cool roof technology and a solar system to improve energy efficiency at the legislative building.
Reyes in an interview said the LB has been waiting for this good news for two years.
When ARRA funds for the CNMI were announced in Aug. 2009, Reyes wrote then-Commerce Secretary Michael Ada, requesting federal grants for a generator system.
But since a system that used fossil fuel did not qualify for ARRA funding, the LB director made a follow up request in December for solar panels.
Reyes said it took two years because, she was told, there were other priority ARRA projects, one of which was the retrofitting of lighting fixtures of the legislative building.
Reyes said she is relieved that her request has finally been approved.
The average power rate the LB pays the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. ranges from $4,000 to $5,000 a month, she said.
The legislative building, she added, doesn’t have a generator, so whenever there’s a power outage on Capital Hill, they all have to vacate the building.
