Requests for $486,000 worth of grants for renewable energy and energy-efficiency efforts received an initial nod Wednesday from Pitkin County commissioners, though funding for electric-vehicle charging stations around Aspen and energy upgrades in worker housing raised brows for some officials.
A public hearing and possible formal approval of the grants is scheduled Aug. 10 before commissioners, and it appeared Wednesday that a pilot program to upgrade 10 sales units in the worker housing inventory might not make the cut.
The funding comes from the Renewable Energy Mitigation Program, or REMP, which collects dollars from development that exceeds an energy budget established in Aspen and Pitkin County and allocates them to various other efforts to reduce energy use or promote the use of renewable resources. For example, a property owner who installs a heated driveway either must offset that energy use with other measures on the property or pay a REMP fee.
Use of REMP revenues — $1.9 million had accumulated as of July 1 — must be approved by both commissioners and the Aspen City Council, based on recommendations from the Community Office for Resource Efficiency board and a citizen advisory committee.
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