A $420,154 grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to the Monhegan Plantation Power District will lead to more affordable electricity rates for island residents.
Monhegan Island residents currently pay about 70 cents per kilowatt-hour, more than almost any other community in the nation.
The quasi-municipal district will use the funds to replace its switchgear, purchase a 40-kW generator and install a 13-kW solar array on the power station’s roof, according to a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture press release.
The switchgear will allow the station to switch between different power sources, including renewable energy sources like solar and wind. The new generator will be a more efficient option for producing electricity in the winter, when the island’s population drops.
The district expects the work to take place in fall 2013, according to its website.
“This grant is a game-changer for our year-round island community, which has faced extremely high energy costs since the cost of diesel skyrocketed in 2008,” Chris Smith, operations manager for the power district, said in a press release from the nonprofit Island Institute, which worked with the district to obtain the grant.
“We are grateful for the support of the USDA, Congresswoman Pingree and the Island Institute in helping us take this giant step towards a more affordable, efficient and sustainable power system,” Smith said.
“Year-round island living can be expensive and challenging, but island communities are a key part of Maine’s working coastal economy,” Pingree said in the release. “The electric rates on Monhegan have consistently been in the top 20 highest rates in the whole country and that threatens the year-round nature of island communities.”
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Service administers the High Energy Cost Grant Program, which assists communities where the average cost for home energy exceeds 275 percent of the national average.
The eight grants announced Dec. 19 total more than $9.3 million.
