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Karl Walquist, (775) 834-3891 

Nonprofit organizations in rural Nevada, including two in Elko, 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 nonprofits 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.

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

Rackley said Head Start of Northeastern Nevada in Elko is getting a $5,000 grant to replace its heating and air conditioning equipment with a more energy efficient system, and the Family Resource Center in Elko is getting a $6,684 grant to install energy efficient fluorescent lights and an energy efficient window.  In addition, the Austin Historical Society is getting a $4,058 grant to install energy efficient fluorescent lights. Checks for the grants were presented today to all three organizations. 

Among the other rural Nevada nonprofit groups receiving energy efficiency grants are Piper's Opera House in Virginia City; Mineral County Care& Share, which serves residents of Hawthorne and Mina; the Tonopah Development Corporation; the Pershing County 4H Council; and Winnemucca Recycling. 

Grants are also going to agencies 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.