The Town of Jackson is looking to a large pot of stimulus money to get a communitywide energy efficiency program up and running.

The Jackson Town Council voted last week to allow staff to apply for a $5 million grant that is being offered through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

The grant aims to fund financially sustainable projects that “fundamentally and permanently transform energy markets in a way that make energy efficiency and renewable energy the options of first choice.”

The grant announcement specifically mentions programs that target energy efficiency in existing buildings and pilot projects that can be replicated.

“It matches what we’re already trying to do exactly,” said Larry Pardee, public works director.

Pardee said the grant money would be used to kick-start the first portion of the Jackson Energy Sustainability Project, a communitywide effort to cut energy consumption and improve energy efficiency.

The first portion of that project focuses on adding energy-efficient measures to existing buildings and infrastructure to cut energy consumption.

The federal grant program is expected to award between eight and 20 grants worth between $5 million and $75 million.

Pardee said it is a highly competitive grant and said members of the sustainability project plan to hire someone to complete the application using private donations given to the project.

At the same time the town is setting its sights on the high-dollar stimulus grant, it is moving forward with another project that is partially funded through stimulus money.

During a meeting last week, the Town Council awarded a contract to Creative Energies to build a 170-kilowatt solar panel system at the sewer plant.

The town plans to use about $500,000 in stimulus funding it received this summer to pay for a portion of the project. It will still have to contribute about $280,000.