PORTERVILLE, Calif. — A Tulare County school district has won a federal grant for energy-efficient upgrades.
Porterville Unified School District will receive $5.8 million over the next three years, thanks to a grant program from the U.S. Department of Energy known as “Renew America’s Schools.”
Seven of Porterville’s 22 schools will receive energy-efficient lighting, heating and cooling, as well as building automation to manage air temperature and quality.
According to assistant superintendent Brad Rohrbach, the primary goal is to significantly reduce energy usage.
“There’s such a significant need, and a changing need, to improve air quality, to fiscally reduce energy costs but also greenhouse gases, and improve our environment,” he said.
The upgrades could result in cost savings of around half a million dollars per year.
“It definitely will give us a leg up on getting many of our schools improved, where we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do so,” Rohrbach said.
The funding will also help expand an energy engineering internship program for high schoolers, which is also supported by the climate education organization Climate Action Pathways for Schools.
Porterville Unified was the only school district selected for the grant in California, and one of only 24 school districts chosen in the entire country.
