Stimulus package provides energy-efficiency boon to Louisiana

by Rebecca Mowbray, The Times-Picayune

Monday March 16, 2009, 6:58 PM

Louisiana is expected to get $122.3 million in federal economic recovery money to improve the energy efficiency of the homes, government buildings and public transportation over the next three years and to jump start renewable energy projects for electricity generation.

The funds should create scores of new jobs for tradesmen willing to learn green building practices. It will also help moderate-income households around the state improve the energy-efficiency of their homes and lower their utility bills.

Normally, the federal government provides Louisiana with about $2 million a year to help people who make up to 150 percent of the federal poverty line install insulation and upgrade their heating and air-conditioning systems. The Weatherization Assistance Program, which is administered by the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, has traditionally allowed the state to spend about $3,000 per home.

But the newly passed federal stimulus package allows the housing finance agency to spend up to $6,500 per home for families making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Over the next three years, the housing finance agency hopes to weatherize about 6,000 homes. It also hopes to use some of the money to improve the energy-efficiency of apartments so renters can also benefit from lower utility bills.

"What's the word? Unprecedented," said Charlette Minor, program administrator for the energy, home and neighborhood stabilization program at the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, which will administer $50.6 million of the money. "For us as an agency to be able to reach so many families who need that assistance to get their energy costs reduced is incredible."

In addition, the Department of Natural Resources is slated to get $71.6 million. Spokesman Patrick Courreges said the department is gathering ideas for how to spend it most efficiently.

His department is considering using the money to advance transportation projects, to retrofit state buildings to make them more energy-efficient and to expand the state's signature energy-efficiency initiative, the Home Energy Rebate Option, or HERO, program.

HERO offers a cash rebate of up to $2,000 to Louisiana homeowners who renovate their homes to make them more energy-efficient. There are no income restrictions on the program.

City Councilwoman Shelley Midura, who chairs the council's utility committee and oversaw the completion of EnergySmart, a plan to make homes and businesses in the New Orleans area more energy-efficient, expressed hope earlier this year that the federal economic stimulus package could help her yet-unfunded plan.

Her chief of staff, Seung Hong, said Midura remains hopeful. "We're still trying to map out all the different pots of money and what the process is for applying," Hong said.

If Louisiana spends the money wisely, it should be able to train thousands of workers and create a permanent turn toward energy-conscious construction, said Forest Bradley-Wright, sustainable rebuild director at the Alliance for Affordable Energy.

"There has for a long time been a huge need for energy-efficiency work in homes and businesses, but not a lot of financial resources," Bradley-Wright said. "We can anticipate new job creation and new business creation just to get the job done. It's going to take a lot more people."

While the newly trained energy installers are busy insulating homes, it will be key for Louisiana to think about what happens three years from now when the money runs out, Bradley-Wright said. The state needs to collect data to document the impact of the work and demonstrate why continued investments in energy-efficiency are worthwhile, he said.

For now, gearing up to spend the stimulus money is a challenge. At the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, for example, funding for the weatherization program increased to $7.8 million in January thanks to a one-time $5-million infusion from Gov. Bobby Jindal. That money is nearly four times what the agency normally has for the program, and the money must be spent by the end of June.

The federal stimulus package gives the agency an additional $50.6 million that must be spent over the next three years. To assist local the social service agencies that normally carry out the work, including Total Community Action in New Orleans and the Jefferson Community Action Program, the housing finance agency will need to pre-qualify a group of insulation contractors to help accomplish the work. The state also plans to enlist some other non-profits to take some of the workload.

All of this will have to come together quickly. Minor said that the stimulus money should be released by June 1, and the housing agency will need to commit funds to groups that will be working on the project by July 17.

James Wallace, supervisor of energy services at Total Community Action, said that handling the late expansion of the 2008-2009 funding has already proven to be a scramble. In the 2007-2008 year, his group weatherized 68 homes. This year, it could do more than 250. His group plans to hire a consultant to help assess applications and double the number of firms performing the insulation work.

Rebecca Mowbray can be reached at rmowbray@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3417.