{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases/davids-announces-federal-grant-lower-home-energy-costs-improve-energy", "Davids Announces Federal Grant to Lower Home Energy Costs, Improve Energy Efficiency of Public Buildings", "2023-10-27", "2023", "2023-10", "Democrat", "House", "KS", "Sharice Davids", "D000629", "davids.house.gov", "davids", "https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS) announced the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded two organizations in Kansas with a total of $800,000 to lower home energy costs for Kansas families and make public buildings across our state more energy efficient.\n\nThe awardees of the \u201cBuildings UP\u201d grants include:\n\nClimate + Energy Project \u2014 $400,000\n\nTo make homes more energy efficient, lowering families\u2019 energy bills, reducing energy consumption, and improving health.\n\nDavids advocated to the DOE for this project to be fairly considered for the award.\n\nMetropolitan Energy Center \u00ad\u2014 $400,000\n\nTo help make libraries across Kansas more energy efficient, decreasing costs of publicly funded utility bills and air pollution.\n\n\u201cThe Buildings UP awards I\u2019m announcing today will decrease energy costs, reduce carbon emissions, and improve indoor air quality for folks at home and in public buildings throughout the Kansas City area,\u201d said Davids. \u201cCongress has passed major climate-smart legislation in recent years, and these grants will ensure hardworking Kansans actually see the benefits at home.\u201d\n\nCommercial and residential buildings in the U.S. account for 35 percent of the country\u2019s carbon emissions and those buildings consume 75 percent of the nation\u2019s electricity. Also, despite economic growth in recent years, in 2022, the average American paid 11 percent more per kilowatt-hour for electricity than in 2021. The grants announced today will help lower those energy bills for Kansas families and businesses, while also helping ensure our public buildings can meet national energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.\n\n\"The Buildings UP program funding awarded to Climate + Energy Project's Energy Navigators Program will have a direct and positive impact on Kansans experiencing high energy burden and environmental injustice,\u201d said Dorothy Barnett, Executive Director, Climate + Energy Project. \u201cEnergy Navigators will leverage community-driven pathways to improve outcomes in low-income households by connecting folks with the solutions and financial resources to lower their energy bills and make their homes and communities healthier and safer. We are so grateful to Congresswoman Davids' support of this initiative, and we look forward to the good that Energy Navigators will do in Kansas communities with the Buildings UP funding.\"\n\n\u201cThis project will unlock people\u2019s lived expertise to influence building improvements affecting health and quality of life,\u201d said Mary English, Building Performance Program Manager, Metropolitan Energy Center. \u201cWe are excited to see public libraries delivering these experiential learning exhibits across the region, and someday nationwide.\u201d\n\nDavids has been focused on lowering energy bills for Kansans and was the only member of the Kansas delegation to vote for the Inflation Reduction Act. This legislation could save families an average of $500 per year on energy bills and is providing discounts to help families upgrade to more efficient appliances and vehicles. Davids also previously announced that, thanks to the law, Kansas\u2019 Third Congressional District has created more clean energy jobs than any other congressional district in the country.\n\nBackground:\n\nIn total, DOE announced 45 Phase 1 winners in the Buildings UP program, which awarded more than $22 million in cash prizes and technical assistance to teams developing scalable and replicable initiatives for widespread energy efficiency and efficient electrification building upgrades. These innovative models aim to accelerate greenhouse gas reduction, equity, economic development, and health goals.\n\nThirty-nine teams in the Equity-Centered Innovation Pathway, including the awardees in Kansas, were selected to move onto Phase 2 of the prize for their concepts to deliver scalable and replicable upgrades to buildings in disadvantaged communities, low- and moderate-income households, and underserved commercial, nonprofit, and public buildings.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:49:26Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases/davids-announces-federal-grant-lower-home-energy-costs-improve-energy"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.698492094874382, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}