Thirty-six facilities across the state, including the lakes area, will realize more than $3 million in permanent, ongoing energy savings every year for the foreseeable future. That’s thanks to a one-time, $4.1 million energy upgrade grant program administered by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources. The grants, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, were targeted to make energy efficiency improvements to commercial, industrial, and nonprofit facilities across Minnesota.

Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman says the results of the program can be measured in dollars and sense.

“Energy savings projects like these are good for business, good for our environment, and good for our economy, said Rothman, in a news release. “This targeted investment of one-time funds will pay for itself over and over again. It has helped dozens of facilities dramatically reduce their energy consumption and realize millions of dollars in ongoing cost savings.”

As a result of the program, the Chippewa Valley Ethanol Plant in Benson has estimated it will save about $700,000 a year in natural gas costs. St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood will save about $200,000 every year in energy cost reductions, and Gerdau Ameristeel U.S. Inc. in Duluth will save $50,000 a year.

“Commercial buildings and industrial facilities like these consume about half of our state’s energy,” said Rothman. “That’s why it makes sense to target large buildings. Targeted retrofits using one-time investments deliver the biggest bang for our buck. And every dollar a business or nonprofit saves is a dollar they can be using to expand their operations, hire new workers, and get our economy moving again.”

More than 90 percent of the energy grant projects funded by the program have been completed and are achieving energy savings today. The program, which launched in December 2009, received 150 proposals out of which 39 were selected to receive grants. Most of the grants were awarded for direct energy improvement projects, and three were given to nonprofit entities to operate revolving loan programs to help finance energy efficiency projects.

For the direct improvement projects, the program required a financial match component. Projects were ranked according to projected energy savings, payback, leveraged additional spending per grant dollar, and job labor hours of work generated by the funding. Overall, the projects will save an estimated 440,000 MMBtu per year, or enough energy to heat 8,150 homes per year, and will have an average payback of four years.

Grantees included a cross-section of for-profit and nonprofit entities. Efficiency measures achieved included upgrades to lighting, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems and controls and to industrial processes. For-profit and nonprofit companies to benefit from the state energy grant program included area companies —

Aitkin Iron Works, FourCrown Inc. (Wendy’s), Pequot Tool & Mfg. Inc., SuperValu Inc.,Wausau Paper Mills LLC.