WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest a total of $427,000 to help six Maine small businesses purchase and install renewable energy systems or upgrade to more energy efficient equipment. The grants were awarded through the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

“These investments will help Maine small businesses adopt cost-effective and efficient renewable energy systems that provide significant annual savings as well as environmental benefits," said Collins and King in a joint statement. “By cutting energy waste, small businesses can improve their bottom lines, increase their competiveness, and better support their local communities.”

The grant recipients in Maine are as follows:

• Little River Flower Farm in Buxton will receive $42,226 to help purchase and install a 24 kW thin-film solar panel system integrated into the structure of a new greenhouse and for two new wood pellet boilers.
• Double G Farms, Inc. in Blaine will receive $151,271 to help purchase and install a 219.2 kW solar PV ground-mounted system to benefit the farm.
• KAPH Inc. in Eliot will receive $25,637 to help purchase and install a 39.75 kW roof-mounted solar array.
• Maine Textiles International, LLC in Biddeford will receive $140,295 to help purchase and replace textile dyeing equipment at the Saco River Dyehouse, reducing annual energy consumption by approximately 85 percent.
• Goranson Farm in Dresden will receive $17,696 to help purchase and install a 24.96 kW ground-mounted solar array.
• S.P. Real Estate, LLC in Fort Kent will receive $49,875 to help purchase and install a 58.5 kW solar PV tracker system.

Since 2009, USDA’s REAP has invested nearly $13 billion to finance approximately 11,600 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects nationwide that in turn have reduced energy costs for 15,000 rural small businesses and farms. This year alone, REAP has invested a total of $237 million to support 423 businesses nationally.

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