I've always been a bit of an energy efficiency nut.
I've made it my mission to cut the utility bills at every home
we've owned. Long before I learned about the risks of climate change, I
was fanatical about energy efficiency because I'm cheap.
Whenever my wife and I move into a new home, I check the attic
for adequate insulation. I look for leaks around doors and windows and
install a programmable thermostat if needed. In our latest home, I've
also insulated our water pipes with inexpensive foam from our local
hardware store and painted mastic sealant on the seams of the air ducts.
When our hot water heater needed replacement, we installed a tank-less
water heater which decreased our summer-time gas use by 50%. In the
summer, we found that setting the thermostat at 77 - 78 degrees and a
gentle breeze from a fan was all that is required to be comfortable.
So far, we are on track to cut our utility bills by about half
compared to the previous owner, but we are doing more. Our home has two
large skylights that funnel too much heat out in the winter and let too
much heat in the summer. We intend to replace these older windows with
modern widows with five times the efficiency.
Taking these steps is called "weatherization." I would rather
call it "saving money by saving energy." Over the next several years,
we want to help millions of American families seize the same opportunity
to cut their utility bills by making their homes and appliances more
energy efficient while increasing comfort.
We are making a major down payment on this effort through the
President's economic recovery plan.
First, the Recovery Act expanded tax credits for energy
efficiency upgrades to your home. If you purchase and install certain
energy-efficient windows, insulation, doors, roofs, or heating and
cooling equipment, you can receive a tax credit for 30% of the cost, up
to $1,500. For example, if insulating your attic costs around $1,600,
you'll receive a $480 tax credit, and you could save up to $200 on your
utility bill each year.
Second, we are launching an innovative new effort called
"Retrofit Ramp Up" that will simplify and reduce the cost of home
retrofits by funding pioneering programs that reach whole neighborhoods
and towns. If we can energy audit and retrofit a reasonable fraction of
the homes in any given residential block, the cost will be greatly
reduced. Programs such as these will decrease barriers to saving money:
inconvenience, inertia, and inadequate information. We want to make home
energy efficiency upgrades irresistible and a social norm for
homeowners.
This effort could offer homeowners innovative ways to finance
the upfront investments they can't afford on their own. For example,
homeowners might receive a loan for an energy improvement and pay back
the principal and interest over time via an assessment on their property
tax bill. The homeowners might pay an extra $400 per year on their
property tax bill but save $500 a year on their utility bill. Since the
financing would be attached to the property tax bill, both the savings
and the loan payments stay with the house if the owners decide to sell.
Finally, for low-income families who are hit hardest by high
utility bills, the Recovery Act provides $5 billion for home
weatherization. This is the largest single investment in home energy
efficiency in U.S history. This program is creating jobs now, putting
money back in the pockets of hardworking Americans, reducing our
environmental footprint, and making these homes more livable. However,
some people - including me - have been frustrated that the program
started off more slowly than we'd hoped.
It took a few months for states to develop their plans and for
the Energy Department to ensure those plans met the highest standards of
accountability. We also used this time to work with the Labor
Department to establish standards that guarantee these jobs pay a fair
wage. States and their local weatherization agencies also began
training this new workforce and buying millions of dollars in necessary
equipment and materials, like caulk guns, insulation blowers, and
service vehicles. We are taking the care and time necessary to make
sure these taxpayer dollars are well spent.
Those purchases are creating jobs. A good example is an
insulation machine manufacturer called Krendl in Delphos, Ohio. Because
of Recovery Act-driven purchases, Krendl has expanded its workforce by
30 percent, and one of Krendl's distributors, Applied Energy Products,
Inc., increased its staff by almost 60 percent.
Here's more good news:
- All 50 states have received 100% of their Recovery Actweatherization funding and have begun to double and triple their homeenergy efficiency efforts. Workers are being hired, homes are beingimproved, and families are being helped.
- In September, we estimate we weatherized 15,000 - 20,000 homes -the fastest pace in the 30 year history of the Weatherization AssistanceProgram. We expect to be weatherizing 20,000 to 30,000 homes per monthsoon.
- This effort has already created or saved thousands of jobs, andthe pace of hiring is accelerating. The Department of Energy and ourpartners have an aggressive training and technical assistance program tocontinue to invest in green workforce development.
We're training a workforce and building a home energy efficiency
industry that will be a crucial part of America's new, clean energy
economy. As states, utilities and private companies increasingly pursue
home energy efficiency - in part because of the innovative incentive
programs I described earlier - we will have the capacity to help
millions of Americans lower their utility bills.
Energy efficiency is simply good economics. It will save you
money. It will create jobs. It is a way for you to personally decrease
your carbon emissions and help save our planet.