The Town of Jackson will be able to tap into $50,000 in federal stimulus spending to help fund energy conservation projects this summer.

A federal grant program that was announced at the end of March will allocate about $12 million to Wyoming as part of a nationwide effort to promote energy efficiency projects and create jobs to help spur the struggling economy.

Jackson is one of 20 communities in the state that was designated as being eligible to apply for a total of $2.5 million in funding for energy conservation projects.

The rest of the funding from the federal package, about $9.5 million, will be made available to the state Energy Office, which can then divvy up the money among communities that were not included in the first round of funding.

Town administrators said they were aware of the money, but remain unsure what projects they will submit for consideration.

“We’re in the process of figuring out exactly how we want to use it,” Energy Affairs Coordinator Wendy Koelfgen said. “There are specifications as to how the money can be used, but they’re pretty wide-ranging.”

Under the grant program, which is called the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, applicants can use funding to help develop energy efficiency and conservation plans, conduct energy audits, establish incentive programs to promote energy efficiency, retrofit government buildings, expand recycling programs, develop transportation programs, reduce greenhouse gases and install renewable energy technology such as wind or solar power.

The money is part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, a $850 billion spending bill passed by Congress in February.

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced last week that $3.2 billion would be funneled from ARRA to support energy efficiency and conservation projects across the country.

Wyoming already has received $35.2 million in federal dollars to help fund a state energy program aimed at providing rebates for home energy audits and conservation efforts and to promote the weatherization of homes.

In the most recent round of funding, in which $12 million was set aside for Wyoming, the top 10 most populated cities and counties in Wyoming each were allocated a specific amount of funding based on population and energy use.

Amounts range from $547,800, which was allocated to Cheyenne, down to $50,000, which was set aside for Green River, Evanston, Riverton and Jackson and Sheridan County.

Applications for the energy conservation funding do not have to be turned in to the Department of Energy until June 25, giving town administrators ample time to whittle down projects for an application.

“We have a lot of projects on the books and a lot of ideas,” Koelfgen said. “At this point, it’s just a matter of us figuring out what we want to do with it.”

Representatives from the state Energy Office will hold public meetings around the state at the end of the month to explain the funding and how the application process works. A meeting is tentatively scheduled for April 30 in Jackson, but no time or location have been set.