Superb work by Loudoun County Supervisor Andrea McGimsey on making Loudoun County more energy efficient, creating jobs, saving money, and protecting the environment.
The possibility of losing the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, which supports projects and outreach efforts such as the ones outlined in the Loudoun County Energy Strategy, has mobilized local leaders across the country to petition the White House and Congress for support.
, launched the Energy Block Grants Climate Communities, a national coalition led by 15 local government officials, including Loudoun County Supervisor Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac) Work! campaign on Capitol Hill last week to try to save the program…
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The project that McGimsey found “the most exciting” involves applying integrated energy solutions to the Moorefield Station project — a 400-acre, mixed-use development in southeastern Loudoun — where the waste heat from the development’s data center cluster will be recovered and used to heat nearby residences and businesses.
Beyond the benefit to the environment, McGimsey said, the projects save money, improve efficiency and create jobs. Calculations based on methodology provided by the Department of Energy show that the combined projects will create an estimated 70 private-sector jobs and save more than $125,000 in annual energy costs, she said.
“I come out of corporate America. I’m a businesswoman, and I look at these energy issues as being pro-business and also pro-environment,” McGimsey said. “If you save energy, you put that money toward the bottom line of your company.“
This is exactly what we should be doing in this country, and it demonstrates how badly we need leaders like
Andrea McGimsey – people who “get it” on energy efficiency, by far the biggest “bang for the buck” when it comes to energy – in this country. Thank you, Ms. McGimsey, for your leadership in turning Loudoun “green!”
