$3 million designated for energy assistance

BESSEMER — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners was informed this week that the Superior Watershed Partnership has received $3 million in state and federal funding to provide heating and electrical assistance for low income families in all 15 counties of the Upper Peninsula.

Funding is being provided through the Michigan Energy Assistance Program, according to Carl Lindquist, executive director of SWP.

Lindquist said SWP is also announcing a new program called the Energy Conservation Corps. Trained teams will conduct energy assessments in qualifying low income homes and then install prioritized energy conservation measures at no cost to the homeowners.

Gogebic County will also be eligible for the ECC program.

Lindquist said the SWP is working with numerous partners to develop a sustainable energy plan for the U.P. He said a number of community planning and input sessions have been held.

The goal is to develop a “cleaner energy future,” he wrote in a letter to Gogebic County Board Chair George Peterson III, of Watersmeet.

The SWP is requesting each county designate a specific contact person as a county liaison for the energy initiatives and to review a draft of the energy plan for the U.P., when it’s completed.

The county board tabled the request in the letter.

The nonprofit SWP has its headquarters in Marquette.

—Ralph Ansami