Now May Be the Time to Go Green at Home—With Uncle Sam’s Help

Photo by Daniel Hennessy

Summary:
• Energy inefficiency bleeds money.
• Many homeowners can’t afford the fixes.
• Can federal stimulus funds plug the holes?

Hilda Olivarria, 55, has lived in the same modest Tucson house for 32 years. Since she became disabled in 1994, there’s been little money for upkeep—even less since she started caring full time for three grandchildren five years ago. This spring she was hoping the ancient, rusting cooling unit on her roof could limp through one more searing Arizona summer.

Before the season even hit, however, things got worse. One day Olivarria caught the faint smell of rotten eggs in her house. A gas line had broken. The local utility shut off her gas, which fuels her furnace and hot water heater, and suggested a contractor to repair the line—for $1,000.

“A thousand dollars!” Olivarria says. “That’s my monthly income. There’s no way I could do it.”

But one recent morning, a crew was hard at work on Olivarria’s property. The workers fixed the gas line and connected it to a new energy-efficient furnace and water heater. They installed reflective window shades outside her living room to deflect the sun’s heat. Then they went on Olivarria’s roof and installed a new cooling unit.

And it all cost Olivarria nothing. The tab, which would likely exceed $5,000 commercially, was covered by a federal program that aims to help low-income and older Americans weatherize their homes.

Energy breaks

Across the country, thousands of homes like Olivarria’s are echoing with the sounds of repairs, thanks to dramatically expanded federal spending for weatherization assistance for home­owners and increased tax credits for those who improve their energy efficiency. The funding was included in the massive economic stimulus package—the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—signed into law by President Obama last winter. The expanded programs offer an unprecedented opportunity for Americans to make needed home repairs with Uncle Sam’s help.

Stimulus funding bolsters the U.S. Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program with $5 billion to be spent during the next one to three years. That’s many times the previous year’s funding for the program, which was started during the 1970s fuel crisis. At full capacity, the program will reduce fuel bills in 1 million homes a year, according to the DOE. It could also put an estimated 87,000 people to work fixing up older homes.

“These investments will reduce energy costs for those that need it most, while creating jobs, reducing pollution and moving the country toward energy independence,” says Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

Who’s eligible

To put weatherization within reach of more low-income home­owners, the government raised the program’s eligibility limits—they had varied from state to state—to 200 percent of the poverty level. That’s income of $21,660 for an individual and $44,100 for a family of four (higher in Alaska and Hawaii). The federal guidelines allow states to give priority to people over 60, people with disabilities and families with children. Final eligibility is determined at the local level.

“We like to focus on people on fixed incomes,” says Charlie Gohman, weatherization program manager for Arizona, reflecting a common approach. “If they’re elderly or disabled, and their energy burden is 30 percent of their income, they can be moved up the list.”

Olivarria estimates that she spends about 20 percent of her income on electricity and gas. With a fixed income of about $1,200 a month from her disability check, she fell well within eligibility limits.

When her gas line broke, she turned to the Tucson Urban League, a nonprofit organization that serves the low-income population. The League and nine other groups implement the federal weatherization program around Arizona.

The program’s expansion is well under way. By July, every state, even those in colder climes where the season for highest energy bills remains months away, had received at least an initial infusion of stimulus funding. New York, for example, got $157 million and expects to weatherize 45,000 homes over three years. Arizona, where energy efficiency means the biggest savings in the hot months, got in line for allocations early and received a first share of nearly $23 million in June. The state expects to weatherize 6,409 homes over three years.

The Tucson Urban League anticipates using some of that money to increase the number of homes it handles from 70 a year to 300, says Paul Harris, an administrator for the nonprofit. To meet the demand, the League has increased its work crew members from three to 12. Seven of the new workers had been unemployed. The crews have been handing out fliers in neighborhoods where they’re working—“trying to get the word out,” says Courtney McCoy, a crew supervisor.

McCoy supervised the crew sent to work on Olivarria’s house. The process starts with an energy audit, an assessment of how much energy a home consumes and evaluation of cost-effective measures for making the home more energy-efficient. In addition to installing Olivarria’s new appliances and shades, McCoy’s crew applied a heat-reflective coating to her roof and put in new register grills to help heat and cool air flow through the house.

Other energy-efficiency help

For those who don’t qualify for direct assistance, expanded tax credits in the Recovery Act provide an incentive to make repairs that can significantly cut utility bills. Previously, the credit for improvements such as installing energy-efficient windows, insulation or cooling systems was 10 percent of the cost. But the Recovery Act boosts that tax credit to 30 percent and triples the overall cap from $500 to $1,500. By the end of the year, there will be rebates to consumers who buy Energy Star certified high-efficiency appliances.

The payoff

As Olivarria waited eagerly at her kitchen table for McCoy’s crew to finish hooking up her new rooftop unit, she’d already noticed cooler comfort in her living room after the mesh sunshades were installed. The changes can make a big difference in utility costs, on average saving hundreds of dollars per year, according to the DOE.

Olivarria was grateful for the chance the program provided to escape the financial box familiar to people on a limited income. “You know that fixing things up would help with the utilities, but you have to have the money to get started,” she says. “I can’t wait to see what this saves me.”

Reed Karaim is a writer in Tucson, Ariz.