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Nonprofit organizations in rural Nevada, including the Tonopah Development Corporation, are getting a total of $65,448 in grants from Sierra Pacific Power Company to make energy efficiency improvements at their facilities.

The grants should help the nonprofit groups better manage their utility costs and reduce the total amount of energy Sierra Pacific must generate at its power plants or purchase from other suppliers, explained Larry Rackley, project leader for energy efficiency and conservation at Sierra Pacific.

Projected annual energy savings from the rural grants amounts to approximately 67,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, Rackley said.

Rackley said the Tonopah Development Corporation, an agency created to improve the economy and quality of life in Tonopah, is getting an $8,750 grant for energy efficiency improvements at the Tonopah Fire Station and the Tonopah Convention Center. Programmable thermostats and motion sensors that automatically switch lights on and off will be installed at the fire station, along high efficiency fluorescent lights. Improvements at the convention center will include upgraded fluorescent lights, motion sensors and an energy efficient water heater.

The annual energy savings from the improvements is expected to be approximately 8,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, Rackley said. Checks for the grants were presented on June 1.

Among the other rural Nevada nonprofit groups receiving energy efficiency grants are Piper's Opera House in Virginia City; Head Start of Northeastern Nevada and the Family Resource Center, both in Elko; Mineral County Care& Share offices in Hawthorne and Mina; the Pershing County 4H Council in Lovelock; and Winnemucca Recycling. 

Grants will also be awarded to nonprofit organizations in Reno and Incline Village in Washoe County.

In 2005, Sierra Pacific awarded about $100,000 in energy efficiency grants to 20 agencies and the utility awarded $75,000 in grants to 16 nonprofit organizations in 2004.