Peoria and 5 Arizona cities team up to apply for federal Clean Cities funds

Six Arizona cities have partnered to join the Arizona Department of Commerce Energy Office to file for a federal Clean Cities stimulus grant through the US Department of Energy, according to a recent report in The Arizona Republic. The cities are Casa Grande, Goodyear, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, and Scottsdale.

In the grant, Peoria asked for the differential payment for six hybrid solid waste trucks. The city currently has allocated the funds to gasoline trucks, which would cost about $1.2 million. The grant would fund an upgrade from the gas vehicles to hybrids and cover the $276,168 difference cost.

The six cities are asking for a total of $5,125,343 through the grant. The rules require a $5 million minimum and a $15 million maximum request to submit the grant.

According the Peoria's grants coordinator, Tammy Shreeve, "We're competing nationally. The strategy is to compete with a partner. In order for Peoria to be competitive, we need to partner to have more oomph."

The federal government has allocated $300 million for 20 to 30 projects to be funded through the Clean Cities grant.

"The competition is going to be pretty stiff," Shreeve said. "If we're not awarded, I'm going to follow up and see what we can do to improve our proposals so we can be a little bit more prepared next time."

The goal is for the hybrid garbage trucks to set an example for the city's residents, meet the community's needs, and achieve the overall goal of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Wisely, Peoria is not putting all their eggs in one basket, though. The city also requested funding from a National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance federal grant through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In that application, Peoria took the lead, partnering with Avondale, Glendale, Goodyear, Surprise and Buckeye.

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