Palm Beach County Recognized for its Sustainability Collaborative

For release: February 24, 2011
Contact: Sherry Howard, Director Economic Development Office, 355-3624

Palm Beach County was recently highlighted on the website of the Department of Energy’s Technical Assistance Program with an article titled “Palm Beach County & Cities Band Together to Exchange Ideas and Save on Project Costs.” http://www.eereblogs.energy.gov/tap/?page=5

The Palm Beach County Economic Development Office (EDO) established the County and Cities Sustainability Collaborative (CCSC) to bring together county and local municipal leaders to share best practices and lessons learned regarding their Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) programs.

As these projects have progressed, EDO continues to bring in outside experts to discuss challenges and solutions facing local government practitioners as they implement energy-efficiency policies and programs in their jurisdictions. The Energy Department chose to highlight the Palm Beach County CCSC as a model for other EECBG recipients nationwide.

“We hope that other local governments will follow our lead to establish networks where clean energy information and best practices can be shared with their regional peers,” said County Commission Chair Karen Marcus.

In addition, CCSC members are looking to expand their networking by attending a DOE-sponsored workshop in Miami in March. DOE grantees from eight southeastern states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will gather to share best practices, discuss key issues with state and federal experts, and work on creating self-sustaining programs and closing funding gaps.