Bamberg County school districts will receive a total of $154,098 in federal stimulus funds from the South Carolina Budget and Control Board’s State Energy Office to make energy efficiency improvements.

Bamberg County School District 1 was awarded $71,859 to install occupancy sensors and make upgrades to lighting fixtures at Richard Carroll Primary School, Richard Carroll Elementary School, Bamberg-Ehrhardt Middle School and Bamber-Ehrhardt High School. Upgrades to heating and air conditioning systems at the high school will also be made.

Bamberg County School District 2 was awarded $82,239 to install an energy management system at Denmark-Olar High School. The system will help the school better control the temperature of the heating and air conditioning systems at the school.

“Bamberg County schools will be able to see significant energy cost savings as they use this stimulus money to make energy efficiency improvements county-wide,” said John Clark, director of the South Carolina Energy Office. “The taxpayers of Bamberg County will save over $45,000 in utility bill costs annually.”

The state’s 85 school districts are sharing $20.3 million in grants and loans for energy efficiency.  The state’s two- and four-year colleges are receiving a total of $12.2 million, and state agencies are getting $7.4 million for energy efficiency improvements.  Each entity’s allocation is based on the size of the organization’s energy bill.