{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://sablan.house.gov/press-release/kilili-congratulates-marianas-business-plaza-500000-solar-power-grant", "Kilili congratulates Marianas Business Plaza on $500,000 solar power grant", "2013-11-09", "2013", "2013-11", "Independent", "Senate", "MP", "Gregorio Sablan", "S001177", "sablan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\u201cFederal support is there for well-thought-out business plans that meet the needs of the community and fit our national energy policy goals,\u201d said Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan. The Congressman was congratulating Marianas Business Plaza owner Erick van der Maas on the announcement today that he is the recipient of a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Rural Energy for America Program. The grant will be used, together with $1.8 million of private financing, to construct a 650 kilowatt solar power system over the parking lot at the Business Plaza in Susupe.\nThe Marianas Business Plaza project was one of only five projects nationwide to receive the maximum allowable REAP grant of $500,000. Another of the maximum grants went to a solar project in Maryland; and three were for projects converting biomass to energy.\nAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the award of 422 grants today with a total value of $14.2 million.\n\u201cBecause $500,000 is the maximum grant that can be awarded by the Rural Energy for America Program,\u201d noted Sablan, \u201cthe Marianas Business Plaza has clearly done an excellent job of justifying the planned facility and demonstrating its economic feasibility.\n\u201cMany people have talked about moving us in the direction of larger scale renewable energy, but Mr. van der Maas is demonstrating that it can really be done. I congratulate him on this success.\u201d\nThe Rural Energy for America Program provides grants and loan guarantees to farms and small businesses to install solar and other renewable energy systems. REAP financing may also be used to make energy efficiency improvements to non-residential buildings and for other energy conservation purposes in rural areas.\n\u00a0\u201cHaving a solar power electrical generation system on this scale in such a public place will have a substantial impact on how we all think about the energy future of the Northern Marianas,\u201d Sablan said.\n\u201cI hope that it will encourage more energy entrepreneurs in the Northern Mariana Islands and speed our shift away from expensive and nonrenewable fossil fuels.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://sablan.house.gov/press-release/kilili-congratulates-marianas-business-plaza-500000-solar-power-grant"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5795491635799408, "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"}