JAY – Officials at the Verso Paper Corporation were pleased to learn Monday morning that they would be receiving more than $9.3 million in the form of a federal grant, to go toward making three plants more energy efficient.
The funds, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy, will be matched with $9.7 million in company money to complete 12 projects in three plants in Jay, Busksport and Sartell, MN. The projects all focus on energy reduction and energy reclamation procedures during the paper-making process.
Bill Cohen, spokesman for Verso Paper, said that plant officials were pleased by the announcement, which came early Tuesday.
“Starting back with our ‘Maine on Paper’ plan, we’ve been working hard to position the company for the future through several steps, including improving energy efficiency,” he said. “We see this as a really good thing that reaffirms our commitment.”
While final details are still being developed between Verso Paper and the DOE, Cohen did say that three projects would move forward at Jay’s plant; two revolving around water recovery and the third involving the amount of heat required during the wood chip processing process.
All in all, the roughly $19 million of stimulus and company money will reduce the three plants’ energy usage by 33 percent. That percentage can be represented by an estimated 1.28 trillion btu. Cohen did not yet have an estimate on the percentage of energy saved at the Jay facility, alone.
Congressman Mike Michaud praised the announcement.
“Many Maine companies have embraced energy efficiency technologies and practices because it is good for business,” said Michaud. “The projects announced today, including Verso’s, will not only improve energy efficiencies, but also lead to longer term savings for area businesses. Nationally, this is a competitive issue for the United States. Other countries are moving fast to adopt these practices and our country can’t afford to be behind the curve.”
Cohen pointed out that Verso Paper was the only paper company to receive any of the nationally-available $155 million in ARRA funding dedicated for energy efficiency projects, and that the company received $9.3 million. Cohen said he had been told that there had been more than $1 billion in grant requests, country-wide.
