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Martha Jane Murray would still be searching for ways to fund a pilot environmental project if it hadn’t been for the federal economic stimulus package. The program she lobbied for, the Home Energy Affordability Loan program, received $2 million.

“It was a bit overwhelming at first,” said Murray, the Arkansas liaison for the Clinton Climate Initiative. Originally she was trying to raise $75,000 for the program, which will provide interest-free loans for energy improvements to four Arkansas businesses. The savings they realize will be used to repay the loans and also help 100 of their low-income employees make their homes more energy efficient.

In total, Arkansas received $110.8 million for energy-related projects from the U.S. Department of Energy, which distributed $36.7 billion of the $787 billion stimulus package authorized by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act for green pur­poses. The biggest chunk, $48.1 million, went to the Arkansas Department of Human Services, which will also fund energy efficiency projects for low-income families. The Arkansas Energy Office received $39.4 million, and the remaining balance went to cities, counties and other initiatives, including the Energy Star Rebate Program.

Weatherizing Low-Income Homes

That nearly half of Arkansas’ green-related stimulus funds will go toward weatherization programs for low-income families makes perfect sense, advocates say. Residential energy usage accounts for a large portion of greenhouse gas emissions, and on average, low-income homeowners use more energy per square foot than those who have greater disposable incomes.

However, low-income families usually do not have the resources to implement the conservation measures that benefit the environment and their own pocketbooks. In fact, families that earn less than $30,000 a year — about one-fifth of all U.S. households — spend 20 percent of their income on energy, according to the American Association of Blacks in Energy.

The $48.1 million DHS received will accelerate the weatherization work the department has already been doing, accord­ing to DHS spokeswoman Julie Munsell. In a typical year, DHS’ weatherization program receives about $2.5 million, which allows them to weatherize approximately 1,100 homes annually. The stimulus funds are expected to help weatherize 6,500 homes by 2012, she said. “They don’t do a wholesale remodel like replace the roof,” but homeowners see about a 25 percent reduction in energy expenses once the work is completed, she said.

Environmentalism in Multiple Forms

The Arkansas Energy Office’s goal for its $39.4 million was to fund 13 environmental projects, said David Moody, the office’s state energy program manager. Murray’s HEAL program, which will be administered by the Clinton Climate Initiative, is one of those projects. “The Arkansas Energy Office also has money going into renewable energy projects … outreach and training,” he said. “This is a great opportunity to fund some things that we haven’t had an opportunity to fund.”

Most of the money — about $22 million — will be used for energy efficiency improvements in both publicly and privately owned buildings. Twelve million dollars of the $22 million will be administered by the Arkansas Building Authority, the program manager for state-owned buildings. The energy office will manage the other $10 million, which will be used for an industrial revolving loan fund, Moody said. The money must be loaned out by 2012.

Approximately $3 million apiece went toward a revolving loan program for K-12 school buildings and a program that will train residential energy auditors, raters and weatherization employees. Another $2 million went toward a renewable technology rebate fund, which will provide rebates for small-scale electric generation and solar hot-water systems for residential, commercial and government buildings, while approximately $1.6 million went to LED lighting in chicken housing for poultry growers.

Another six initiatives got $1.5 million or less apiece. Among them are almost $737,000 for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management to outfit trailers with 24 photovoltaic energy generators as a means of providing power in emer­gencies and $500,000 for a wind measurement study at commercial scale elevations in the state. Administrative costs for the entire $39.4 million totaled $613,147.

After Arkansas’ stimulus money has been spent, “hopefully we can tell some success stories here that will continue to motivate people to be interested in energy efficiency,” Moody said. “And maybe put a little money back into their pockets and create some jobs.”

Local Projects

Certain cities and counties across the state received more than $16 million in total for their own projects, which vary widely.

City department heads in Fayetteville met and “threw out anything on the wall that could possibly fit the program,” said John Coleman, the city’s sustainability director. The $725,000 it received will be divided among five projects, including $40,000 worth of solar panels for the city’s new district court building. Another $150,000 will be spent on LED lights for the city’s streets and trails, a project that couldn’t have been done without stimulus funds, Coleman said.

And, like the state, Fayetteville will contribute $250,000 to an existing community revolving loan fund that allows nonprofits in the city to make their buildings more energy efficient. “The project will be structured in a way that the energy savings will pay back the loan,” Coleman said. “And that way, we can do more projects.”

Conway received $565,000 and plans to use $25,000 on an education program for all seventh-graders in the city. The students will receive a take-home kit with an energy-efficient shower head and a LED light bulb, said Lauralee McCool, assistant to the Conway mayor for community development.

The city’s top project, though, is a $255,000 traffic signal synchronization system that will decrease the number of red lights motorists encounter on cross-town trips. “It’s going to make a huge difference in our quality of life … in addition to being a great energy saver,” McCool said.