Lancaster, Dauphin county businesses restart energy efficiency projects

The Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority awarded $1.7 million in COVID-19 Restart Grants for 11 projects across the state, including two businesses in Lancaster and Dauphin Counties.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said on Tuesday that the authority awarded the monies to approved energy efficiency, solar energy, high-performance building and electric vehicle charging projects that were paused because of the pandemic.

“We’re pleased to help this outstanding set of clean energy and energy efficiency projects get going again,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell in a press release. “In addition to supporting current and new jobs to assist in Pennsylvania’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ll help improve air quality in their communities by lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce energy waste and demand on the grid.”

Phoenix Contact Development and Manufacturing Inc. in Middletown is slated to receive a $250,000 grant to install a 961 kW solar array on the roof of the company’s logistics center.

The array will provide about 40% of the electricity at the site.

In Lancaster, Kreider Property Improvements was awarded $60,800 for an 89.6 kW rooftop solar array on the company’s commercial property at 573 Willow Road in Lancaster.

Kreider was shut down for nearly four months because of the pandemic and completing the project will reduce operating costs while avoiding over 75 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, the authority wrote in the release.

Other grant recipients were in Allegheny, Washington, Carbon, Erie, McKean, Northampton and Wayne counties.

The grants can be used to support re-hiring workers or hiring additional workers to complete the project quicker, making immediate equipment payments and restarting the project when it otherwise wouldn’t have been completed.

“The variety of these funded projects demonstrates the exciting potential of clean energy here and now, and reflects the growing interest that municipalities, businesses, and organizations around the state have in the benefits of clean energy,” said McDonnell.