Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office
Press Release Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Contact Information:
Jay Blanton
Jill Midkiff
502-564-2611
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Steve Beshear today announced that $850,000 in American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds are now available to Kentucky’s farmers on approved energy efficiency cost-share items.
“In September, I announced the awarding of stimulus funds for on-farm energy efficiency improvements to Kentucky,” said Gov. Steve Beshear. “Now, I am pleased to announce that these funds are available for farmers to access for making their operations more energy efficient.”
The energy stimulus incentive program will provide 25 percent reimbursement of the actual cost of a federally qualified energy saving item, up to $10,000. Permissible items include, but are not limited to, energy audits, energy efficient farm building components, on-farm energy upgrades and on-farm energy efficiency training. Only expenditures made after Oct. 15, 2009 will be eligible for reimbursement.
“These on-farm energy efficiency incentives represent only a small part of Kentucky’s State Energy Program award,” said Roger Thomas, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy (GOAP). “But they will provide enormous benefit to Kentucky’s farmers and position Kentucky agriculture as a leader in on-farm energy efficiency.”
Producers may apply for these funds in two ways. First, producers in all counties who have completed a sign-up period for the County Agricultural Investment Program (CAIP) will have their requests from the “On-farm Energy Efficiency and Production” investment area automatically forwarded to GOAP by their county’s program administrator.
Farmers in each of the 49 counties that will not have completed a sign-up period for CAIP prior to Nov. 15, 2009 may apply directly to GOAP for these energy stimulus incentives. GOAP will accept direct applications from Nov. 2-13, 2009. For a list of counties that will follow this alternate application process or to download the application, visit agpolicy.ky.gov.
All applications received from across the Commonwealth will be reviewed and scored by a committee comprised of representatives from GOAP, the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, the UK College of Agriculture and a Rural Electric Cooperative. A representative from USDA Rural Development and the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet will each serve in an ex-officio capacity.
All applications meeting the minimum requirements of eligibility will be considered for funding. If the total eligible applications exceed the available funds, the committee will rank the applications using the scoring criteria. Applicants will be notified of their approval.
Any energy stimulus funds remaining after the 2009 sign-up will be made available to producers in all Kentucky counties in 2010. Additional information will be disseminated as it is available.
If you have any questions about this application process, please contact Bryan Thomas at (502) 564-4627 or [email protected].
###
Energy bonus incentives are made possible through the Renewable Energy Partnership between the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy and the Energy & Environment Cabinet’s Department for Energy Development & Independence. Funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Governor Steve Beshear and the Kentucky Legislature continue to make great strides toward lessening Kentucky’s dependence on tobacco production while revitalizing the farm economy by investing 50 percent of Kentucky's Master Settlement Agreement into the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund.