Community Perspective
Improving home energy efficiency can truly help Alaskans
Published Sunday, July 6, 2008
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Stumble It!Record-high prices for home heating fuel and utilities are putting a squeeze on family budgets throughout Alaska. People aren’t too happy about the situation, and many are looking for help. Gov. Sarah Palin and state legislators are evaluating additional ways to provide that help, both for the immediate and the long terms.
They already took a crucial step earlier this year by approving $200 million for the state’s weatherization program and $100 million for the Energy Rebate Program. Both programs are administered by Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. The money is being allocated on a regional basis in order to give all Alaskans a fair opportunity to participate in one program or the other.
During the next few years, as more people take advantage of these programs, Alaska families will see significant benefits from the improved energy efficiency of their homes.
Investing in energy-improvement modifications can shave 20 percent or more off monthly fuel bills. We’ve heard reports from some families who saved more than 50 percent. These are monthly savings, year after year, for 10 to 20 years or more. The total benefit can be substantial.
Furthermore, making one’s home more energy efficient improves quality of living by increasing the comfort and safety of family members.
And if these facts aren’t enough to persuade you, keep in mind that right now Alaskans have the opportunity to receive assistance from the state and Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to pay for weatherization work.
There are two different programs. The weatherization program is available to families whose earnings are at 100 percent of median income or less. Median income levels are computed by the federal government and vary within the state. You’ll find a complete listing by region and family size on AHFC’s website: www.ahfc.state.ak.us/energy.
If you believe you may meet the income limit, contact your region’s weatherization service provider (list also available on AHFC website). The service provider will verify your eligibility, evaluate the energy efficiency needs of your residence and do the energy improvements. All weatherization services are free.
The second program, the Home Energy Rebate, is restricted to owner-occupied homes. There is no family income limit. The program provides up to $10,000 in rebates to homeowners who make specifically recommended modifications to their homes that improve energy efficiency.
The first step to participate is to schedule a certified energy rater to do an “as-is” energy efficiency rating of your home. AHFC will reimburse up to $325 of the cost of the rating.
It might take a few months to schedule because there are only a limited number of certified energy raters in the state. AHFC is training more this summer, but the new raters are not on the job yet. We’re asking the public to be patient.
When a rating is completed, it will include a report and a list of improvement modification options that would increase a home’s energy efficiency. The owner has the option to do the recommended work, hire a contractor, or choose not to participate in the rebate program.
Remember, detailed information about the weatherization and Energy Rebate Programs is located on AHFC’s web page: www.ahfc.state.ak.us/energy. Everything to know about qualifying for either program, plus the forms that are needed to fill out, are available on the site.
One final thought to consider: It’s a safe bet that your family, like most others, would welcome saving a couple thousand dollars each year by improving the energy efficiency of your home.
Think what would happen if in addition to your family, all your neighbors did the same and used less fuel as a result. What if the majority of the state’s homes did this, too?
Not only would the combined savings total hundreds of millions of dollars, but as a state we would be consuming far less non-renewable energy resources than we do today.
And if the rest of the nation took note and followed our lead?
Wow!
Dan Fauske is CEO and Executive Director of Alaska Housing Finance Corporation.
Community Discussion
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Dan,
The $200 million is a great thing, but the way this is set up is a bit of a joke. The Auditor who collected $300+ from me didn't even go inside my house, he just filled out some paperwork and made some recomendations....the three major things he recomended were improvements that had been made years ago!
It was a complete waste of time and money. Your organization needs to get this under control.
The second energy assessor we contacted came to our house last week. He did a thorough job and we expect his written report next week. The first assessor we contacted made an appointment with us, then stood us up, thereby wasting THREE WEEKS!!!! of our building season.
I think the state has a great idea, but since we were caught too late in the year to complete all projects, maybe they will extend this program.
It's been said that the road to hell, is paved with good intentions !
This inspection business sounds alot like the same thing?
Woodman you’re right ... the inspection program is indeed a road to hell being led by idiots. This is just another "program" ... administration.
This is all a bunch of re-worked hype. Most homes in Fairbanks that were built in the last 20-25 years have decent construction. There is not any new science out there to greatly improve what we already have and already know. Plain and simple common sense, properly applied, is what we need. Not, some bureaucrat with a program and a wiz kid seminar cranking out energy auditors with 3 hours of "expert" training telling us how to waste more money with a slim chance of a return. Like solar … there is a good one for Fairbanks to be sure.
To save money on home heating:
Insulate, more is better. Switch now to wood/coal heat. Oil is way to expensive to be wasted on space heat.
How do you get tighter than stingy!?
I don't even let my family use a light (energy efficient) in a room they can see into! I lived with candles and a generator for 20+ years. Sounds now even that would be to expensive!
Government programs are NOT going to help with our new 5 star home!
We just plain,old need lower prices we can afford.
Do we really think at these prices our PFD is going to make a dent?
Making NEXT year. Remember, PFD's run a year behind.
Good luck and God bless us all this winter!
Insulating can make a big difference in some homes, unfortunatly the screening process ignores deficencys with the heating/ventilation equipment.
Would it be an idea to get some preformance contracting going up here? Where the contractors get paid based on the actual savings a customer sees from their or the weatherization program investment.
I'm looking at the energy rating for my 5 year old 5 star plus house that estimates that I will burn 896 gallons of fuel for space heating and 110 gallons for water heating at a yearly cost of $1170. Today that cost would be around $5,000.
Those that jump through all the hoops will reduce their heating bill 20% of what it would have been. The sad fact is that the cost has already doubled from last year. I guess that an increase of 80% is better than an increase of 100%, but it is not the answer that we need.
For those of you in a similar situation with modern houses the next step is a coal or wood boiler. I burned less than 200 gallon of oil last year. If you figure out the equivelent cost of oil for the wood you burn I can save over $100 an hour cutting firewood.
I think alot of people will be cutting down every tree that they see and then that is not going to help. We need a better solution and every one keeps putting it off so guess what August is almost here and we will need to just leave alaska and that will make everyone getting a dividend happy but what about the economy?
As an addendum: We had already planned on doing some work to our old Alaskan style built home. Built over the years before we bought it. We had an idea of what we needed to do, the energy assessment confirmed that. If you have a new home you might not find much use for this program. LOL! Our house was built onto a quonset hut, then moved on from there, like I said - Alaskan home!
We had our 38 year old home energy rated, the suggestions are just unrealistic. The cost of those modifications are far in excess of the cost of energy saved over say 20 years. If we follow all of the suggestions we just "might" qualify for a grant of $4,000. We'll continue to do as we have in the past, conserve as we can, add insulation as we can and keep our heating unit and our wood stove in good repair without regard to the energy rating and without applying for a grant.
Does anyone have any positive comments on the energy rebate and weatherization programs that our borough government is spending several hundred million dollars on?
Flint Hills only paid $235 million dollars for the North Pole refinery in 2004. There have been no major improvements in that time and they appear to be willing to sell. How about just buying it and not wasting all our time and resources on programs that are marginally effective at best.
Bet there are going to be a lot of freeze-ups this year.
Bigger bet, more people are going to pack up and leave. It's just getting way to expe Cosnsive to live in Alaska. Costs are up 30% over the last year, and just wait till this winter hits.....
Won't have to worry about BRACs to close base, just let heating oil and gas continue to rise.
Has anyone heard how many contractors there are to do the work. Even if you qualify, it may be years before you see the work done. You'll just be placed on a waiting list.
Seems to me, they could have produced some public service announcements with tips from people who actually know about the subject of making an older home more energy efficent.
Hay DNM I thought you guys were going to run weekly suggestion columns for saving energy. What happen to it. One article on clotheslines and it ended?
Ramster21 you will find the same situation everywhere. I just got back from a trip to the south west and gas is $4.10/gallon, diesel is $4.79, and the average wage like Wall Mart, Lowe’s, Home Depot is $8/hour.
You will also need AC in the summer because of the heat and terrible humidity so that will easily offset the winter cost.
The only bargain was electricity at ~ $0.10-13 KWH (and not "customer charge" ... shame on you GVEA.
What's really nuts is if you want to build a home that is energy efficient, deisned for handicapped, as well as durable the lenders won't touch it because then it becomes unique.
So, what will happen if we do all they want us to do to our homes? Will they loan on it or does that home become unsellable.
With or without the energy rebate we are all talking about, or this genius weatherization plan , I have accepted the fact that my 2 year old home is unsellable, Fairbanks is absolutely going to get smaller and Eielson will be most likely closed in the next round of BRAC. Many local businesses will close their doors and foreclosures will be an epedemic we wont be able to keep up with. The hardy will stay here and relish in it all but interior living will go backwards in time. This will be a gradual transition that will take place over the next 5 years and the only thing that might save the community of the Fairbanks North Star Borough is gonna be a drastic change in the cost of electricity and cheap Anchorage Natural Gas prices, though I cant fathom any of this being done fast enough to stop the inevitable!
In order to make sensible economic decisions about improving home energy efficiency, you need to make a sensible estimate of future energy costs. If our state energy policy is to ever succeed, it will include hydropower from the Sustina Dam for just pennies per kilowatt-hour.
With such cheap renewable energy, it doesn't make sense to spend a fortune on improving home energy efficiency. It will even make sense to change out my compact florescent for incandescent bulbs with cheap, renewable, clean hydropower.
You can thank the last two GVEA presidents and the GVEA BOD's for the past 12 years for the current situation. A clueless bunch and they were told repeatedly. Now you have it.
GVEA has had invisible rate increases for years. The customer charge is a great example. Wasteful ... you bet. GVEA has people over in engineering that do nothing, retired from doing nothing. They have two of everything and only the best.
The only good thing about GVEA is their line crews ... first rate and the best I've ever seen for the past 35 years.
Woodman and James have it about right, the "raters" are the only ones making any money on this deal. How much could we save if all the government buildings, just in Fairbanks, were to set the thermostats back 10 degrees ? I mean the schools, borough owned buildings, Carlson Bldg, City Hall, Fire stations, Police stations, on so on,, I would be willing to bet the savings would be more than twice any savings that will come for these "NEW PROGRAMS", and they would cost NOTHING to apply and would not create any new jobs. So no hope there.
Whats the plan for next year when the price is $6.00 a gallon for fuel? My guess would be the Borough will hire wood burning cops to stop you from burning all that wood. And enforce the new wood burning laws.. stay warm...
Bugger:
Doing all the things you suggest will save energy. I turned my thermostat down.
Lets not just stop at the thermostats, lets also take down 1 of every three street lights. For example you have to do is drive down Mitchell EXPW and notice all the lights. It is over kill lighting. Imagine if all the cities in the US turned off one of every 3 street light. What a cost saving to the taxpayers. What a great way to reduce our energy consumption.
Do you think our electricity bills with be reduced if the city and the other GVEA customers use less electricity?
Here's something cool...
Go to the ahfc website and download the AHFC Energy-Efficiency Programs Overview...
Initially, it states:
$200 million for weatherization
$100 million for rebates
Now, add up the allocations on the following pages:
$125 million for weatherization
$ 70 million for rebates
Hmm, that's interesting, isn't it?
Anyone know where the other $105 million went???
newsreader: I took it, now I can afford to pay heating for a few months this winter. :)
I am getting tired of people saying, well if you want to save money you need to improve your homes engery efficiency" well i have done everything that can be done to make my house this way except buy a new boiler. I use 70 k-watts less per month yet we pay a LOT more $100 more per month for it. GVEA needs to stop telling us to use less yet charge us more for it!!! Something HAS to be done and soon before families really have to start picking between food, gvea and heating oil!! hope the food banks are ready for all of us!
My friend had his duplex tested for this program and he is pursing improvements. There is one odd thing about the energy rater testing a duplex. The rater only tests the owner side of the house, and doesn't test the renter side of the duplex. To me this paints an incomplete picture. We should require testing of the whole building, not just one portion of it.
Secondly, maybe the AHFC should have a program to get rid of and recycle out old appliances in favor of more energy efficient models, and make sure the old inefficient models are taken out of the system and recycled.
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