Updated 6:16 p.m.

The first trickle of what will be a flood of federal stimulus dollars earmarked for Ohio is on its way.

The White House has announced it has awarded Ohio nearly $267 million to help local agencies beef up the insulation and heating equipment in the homes of the elderly, lower income and middle income families.

Another $96 million will allow the state to boost the development and manufacture of renewable energy projects such as solar and wind turbines.

The state expects the feds to announce up to $80 million in additional stimulus money for Ohio next week, also for weatherization and renewable energy.

The grants, administered by the U.S. Department of Energy, are part of $8 billion the Obama administration is awarding states through long-standing community development and energy development programs.

Ohio is concerned that local, non-profit community action agencies - where the $267 million will end up - will not have the capacity to spend such an enormous amount of money over the next two years.

Before the federal stimulus package, Ohio would have received about $21 million for this program, said Mark Shanahan, energy adviser to Gov. Ted Strickland.

"We are looking at what the new federal rules are and whether we can use up to 20 percent of the money for job training," he said.

The jobs in this case might be training people to become home insulators or to perform home energy audits.

Two rule changes will make a big difference, he said: More money can be spent on each home, and families can make more money than previously and still qualify for help.

New income eligibility rules for the money mean a family of four can earn up to $44,000 per year and still qualify for up to $6,500 in state assistance for insulation, windows and new furnaces.

The first installments of the $267 million grant should come within a couple of weeks, Shanahan said. The state will award some of the money directly to community action agencies and some to local governments.

Cuyahoga County officials were scrambling Friday to prepare for the surge of new dollars they intend to use to beef up existing programs.

"But the rules are still being written," said Paul Oyaski, director of Cuyahoga County's office of development. "A lot of dust is still being settled."

Oyaski estimates that the county's development office will receive $6.2 million over two years for weatherization work.

For the past three years, the county has received an average of $1.4 million per year, enough to weatherize 296 homes per year, said Paul Herdeg, housing manager.

The extra money will be enough to fix up an additional 500 homes per year.

Early estimates for some neighboring counties show that Lorain and Portage counties should receive more than $1 million each. Final numbers are expected next week.

The $96 million energy efficiency and renewable energy grant from the Energy Department will go to the Ohio Department of Development's Energy Program, Shanahan said.

The department must develop and submit a plan this month describing the projects it will fund. "We have to file a final plan by May 12 and it will have to identify specific projects," Shanahan said.

Money for both grants comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will pour nearly $800 billion in the U.S. economy.