July 20, 2023
Engineering Extension has record year for Kansas businesses
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Number of energy assessments, funding, energy cost savings and energy savings from fiscal year 2016-fiscal year 2023. |
The Kansas Energy Program, in its seventh year operating, just wrapped up the fiscal year with a record 27 assessments, a record $306,646 in estimated annual energy cost savings and its second-highest estimated annual energy savings or production of 2,836,135 kWh.
The program began in 2016 when the Kansas Corporation Commission Energy Office requested a partnership with K-State Engineering Extension, which formed the Kansas Energy Program, or KEP, to perform energy assessments for agricultural producers and rural small businesses.
The success metrics above feed directly into the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP, which offers grants to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to implement energy efficiency or renewable energy projects. In 2016, the REAP grant would reimburse up to 25% of the total project costs, but the USDA now reimburses up to 50%, depending on the type of project implemented. Additionally, the USDA increased the submission deadlines from only twice a year to quarterly.
"The recent changes to the USDA REAP grant are a game changer for Kansas agricultural producers and rural small businesses," said David Carter, director of Engineering Extension. "Farmers and rural small business owners were definitely interested before the changes, but now there is an increased demand for energy assessments and technical assistance for the grant applications."
Although all of the USDA REAP grant applications submitted in FY23 are still pending approval, KEP's previous grant approval is at 94%, bringing more than $1.2 million in federal funding to the state of Kansas. This funding allows agricultural producers and rural small businesses to implement projects that decrease operating expenses while increasing business efficiency and viability.
"The USDA REAP grant is all about economic viability," Carter said. "One grocery store we assisted told us its refrigeration replacement project was saving more than $1,000 a month on energy costs alone, while acknowledging it was also saving money on reduced food spoilage and drastically decreased maintenance costs for old equipment."
KEP provides energy assessments for agricultural producers and rural small businesses all over Kansas. The average community population is 8,213, but the smallest community population was only 41.
KEP's services have always supported the mission of Kansas State University as a land-grant university. The implementation of K-State's 105 initiative provides yet another path for KEP to help create jobs and grow the Kansas economy.