Stimulus cash to weatherize Hoosier homes-WEB ONLY

Indiana plans to weatherize the homes of more than 30,000 low-income residents with some of its federal stimulus funds by asking nonprofit groups to compete for contracts to handle the upgrades, Gov. Mitch Daniels said yesterday.

The bidding process will begin next week for half of Indiana’s $132 million in stimulus energy-conservation funds. Bidding on contracts for the other half will be held a year from now.

Only Hoosiers already receiving state energy assistance are eligible for the improvements, which will cover up to $5,000 in upgrades ranging from new insulation to replacing heating and cooling systems. Many of the residents who will benefit are the elderly and disabled.

Daniels said Indiana’s $132 million in energy-conservation funds – a small portion of the state’s $4.3 billion slice of the stimulus package – will unleash Indiana’s largest-ever wave of home-weatherizations over the next two years.

He called the energy-efficiency money “a major freebee” that will cut homeowners’ monthly utility bills up to 30 percent, create jobs and reduce energy consumption.

The federal stimulus plan requires states to use the weatherization funds by Sept. 30, 2010.

“Our template for using the stimulus dollars remains the same – speed, jobs and to leave something of lasting value. In this case the lasting value will be the reduction of between 25 and 50 megawatts of energy consumption on an ongoing basis,” Daniels said.

The weatherization campaign is expected to create about 2,300 jobs – most of them the workers who will do the actual upgrades but also about 300 workers who will be trained to evaluate the energy-efficiency weaknesses of each home.

He said the state’s plan for spending the funds will direct the most money to not-fot-profits that achieve the most energy savings per stimulus dollar.

“We will reward and reinforce those agencies, whoever they are, who are doing a really good job,” the governor said.

Daniels said federal authorities are advising every state to closely scrutinize where their weatherization money goes because past federal spending for such upgrades has been plagued by “favoritism and fraud.”

The not-for-profit entities that will be able to bid on contracts to administer the funds include the state’s network of community action programs, the state’s rural electric membership corporations and the Indiana Builders Association.

Daniels said the equipment and supplies used in the weatherization upgrades will be purchased centrally by the state to stretch the federal money further.

Ed Gerardot, executive director of the Indiana Community Action Association, said his group last year spent about $20 million in federal and state funds to weatherize about 3,500 homes through its 24 Indiana chapters. He said the new funding will be a boon for many Hoosiers.

“This new money has a great potential to do a lot of good things, including creating green jobs, saving energy and leaving a lasting impact for low-income Hoosiers,” he said.

Kerwin Olson, program director for the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, said he hopes the state moves carefully to train the 300 inspectors it will need to evaluate homes.

“We certainly understand there’s a time limit here in spending this money, but we hope quality of training is maintained,” he said. “With a promise of 20 to 30 percent in energy savings, that’s going to depend on the quality of the work and the quality of inspections.”

Jacqueline Bunch, a 61-year-old retiree on a fixed income, said her Indianapolis home underwent an extensive weatherization last year that included replacing her worn-out furnace, insulating her attic and installing new ductwork.

Bunch said the improvements cut her monthly utility bills this winter to an average of about $150 – far lower than the $200-$300 bills she faced last winter prior to the upgrades.

“It was just wonderful, and it’s helping me so much the way the economy is,” she said. “It’s big savings and this money will help out a lot of other people.”