Worcester: A greener future, today.

Earning the Green Community designation in May 2010 made Worcester eligible to apply for grant funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. As a result, the City developed the following grant proposal:

1) To provide a financial incentive to encourage investment in energy efficient building improvements and renewable energy projects among Worcester homeowners. The program associated with this goal, Residential Rebate Pilot, offered Worcester homeowners rebate grants of up to $5,000 per dwelling unit to make energy-related improvements in their homes, such as installing high-efficiency boilers, improving insulation, and installing solar panels. The program closed in September 2015. Click here for the Pilot's overview and initial program analysis.

2) To develop and conduct a Community Education, Outreach, and Marketing Campaign educating City residents about the life-cycle benefits of energy efficiency with a larger overarching goal of creating a tipping point for making high efficiency investments the “new normal.” Associated tasks included:

• Informing Worcester residents about the benefits of the Pilot;
• Analyzing the energy savings from the Pilot and publicizing the results; and
• Creating and improving marketing materials to educate the public about the City’s green initiatives and about actions that homeowners and business leaders in Worcester can take to reduce their carbon footprints

In October 2010, the City was awarded the Green Community Grant in the amount of $852K. Approximately 74% of the program budget was allocated directly to the Pilot's rebates, while 16% was directed toward an outreach and marketing campaign (which includes this website!). Program administration accounted for 10% of the program budget. The City closed out the grant on December 31, 2015.

The 2016 Green Community Grant round (for a maximum award amount of $250K) does not allow Behavioral and Community Outreach Programs (such as the City's first grant) to be funded until the City reaches its goal of 20% energy use reduction. Therefore, the City has applied for a major lighting retrofit of a municipal building which would help advance Worcester toward its energy use reduction goal. More information will be posted if/when the grant is awarded.