Ameresco Inc., a leading energy efficiency and renewable energy company, joined with officials from Bates Technical College to host Gov. Jay Inslee and local leaders to announce the award recipients for the second round of 2012 energy efficiency grants from the Washington State Department of Commerce.

In a deeply divided Congress, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) sees strong bipartisan cooperation on energy efficiency, he said in remarks at an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing.

Lime Energy Co. announced that it has been awarded a three-year contract by AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power, for the implementation of its Small Business Direct Install Program. The AEP Ohio program provides significant incentives to help offset the costs of implementing energy efficiency upgrades.

Under a comprehensive $4.9 million energy savings performance contract (ESPC) with Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN), the Building Technologies division of Siemens Industry Inc. announced that Manchester Memorial Hospital should save nearly $500,000 a year in utility consumption.

Consumers Energy announced that it awarded nearly $3.7 million in incentives to commercial and industrial customers in the third quarter of 2012 to help fund 996 energy efficiency projects that will provide long-term savings.

Jurupa Unified School District and Chevron Energy Solutions have announced the completion of a 2.7 megawatt solar and energy efficiency program expected to reduce energy costs at 27 school sites and save the district more than $34 million.

Connecticut’s Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) is lending $1 million for “Campus Efficiency Now,” a new program aimed at advancing energy efficiency and promoting cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable energy for Connecticut’s independent colleges.

The Monterey County Office of Education (MCOE), along with Chevron Energy Solutions, unveiled a new solar power and energy efficiency project that is expected to reduce MCOE’s overall energy demand by as much as 75 percent while yielding an expected savings of $2.2 million during the first 25 years of the project.

As part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) efforts to help American homes and businesses save money by saving energy, the department is developing new voluntary procedures, or protocols, to standardize how state and local governments, industry, and energy-efficiency organizations estimate energy savings.

Small-business owners in Pennsylvania can apply for 50-percent matching funds of up to $9,500 to adopt or acquire energy-efficient or pollution-prevention equipment or procedures through a Small Business Advantage Grant from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).