Stimulus heats up: Fed funds help finance weatherization projects

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December 15, 2009

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Tue Dec 15, 2009, 12:54 AM CST

By Susan Redden

sredden@joplinglobe.com

Donna Helton said that before crews finished work on her home north of Joplin, she had to cover up with a throw when she was watching television in her living room during the winter.

The draft she felt before has been gone since workers with the Economic Security Corp.’s weatherization program finished several projects designed to make her home more energy efficient, Helton said.

“I had tried to seal off around my fireplace, but I kept losing heat,” she said. “They (ESC crews) came out and took care of that, then they fixed a problem with my furnace, insulated my attic and changed something on my hot water heater. And they were just so nice.”

The work has been done for about a month, so Helton said she’s not sure what the impact on her heating bills will be. But, she’s expecting they’ll be down from the $300 per month she was paying last winter.

Lower utility bills also are the goal of a construction project going on this week at the home of Frank Rowland, south of Neosho.

Rowland said he called the ESC in hopes that the weatherization program could add insulation in the ceiling of his home.

“I went blind just as we were about to finish the house and never was able to put insulation in the attic,” he said. “That was my main concern when they came out. I didn’t know they were going to do all these other things, like replacing our door to seal better between the garage and the house. That was definitely a nice surprise.”

He’s on a fixed income, “so every dollar counts,” Rowland said.

360 homes

Those kinds of results are the objective for 360 more homes in the next year, and ultimately for nearly 700 in a 30-month period that ends in March 2012, if the ESC’s weatherization program that has been under way in the area meets goals that have been expanded by an infusion of money from the federal stimulus package.

“Right now, we’re doing 20 homes a month,” said Landon Younge, director of the weatherization program for the regional community action agency. “My goal is 30 houses a month. We’ve got the demand.”

For years, the ESC has overseen a program that makes low-income residents’ homes more energy efficient, and less costly to heat and cool. The work was funded by the federal Department of Energy, and allowed the ESC to upgrade homes in Jasper, Newton, Barton and McDonald counties.

Passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has vastly increased funding and project goals, Younge said.

The federal program, designed to save or add jobs and jump-start the economy, could pour into the four-county area $3 million that must be spent on weatherization programs during the 30-month period.

Program focus

The program reduces air infiltration into homes, makes sure furnaces and water heaters are operating efficiently and, in some cases, adds insulation to walls and ceilings.

“We’re the court of last resort for a lot of people, because that work can be expensive,” Younge said. “And since these are people on limited incomes, cutting their utility bills helps too.”

Some homeowners are referred to the program after they have gone to the ESC for help in paying utility bills, he said.

New jobs

The ESC has its own weatherization crews and has added about eight new workers to the program. The additional federal funds also have allowed the agency to contract with about eight private businesses that have been able to add and keep workers.

“And, we think there’s a positive impact on vendors, because we try to buy all our materials locally,” Younge said.

At A-1 Climate Control in Joplin, one new worker has been hired, and “everybody else is staying busier,” said David Hacker, owner of the business.

“We’ve done in the neighborhood of 18 to 20 jobs; it’s helped us,” he said.

Robbins Construction of Joplin has done “a handful” of jobs so far, said Steve Robbins.

“But it’s made a difference to keep our folks working,” he said. “Without it, we would have had to lay off workers.”

Eligibility

Program guidelines were revised earlier this year to make more households eligible for the help. Previously, for example, a two-person household had to have an income of less than $22,000; now that limit is $29,000. For a four-member household, the limit has been raised to $44,000 from $33,000. Information on the program is available on the ESC Web site at www.escswa.org or by calling 781-4437.