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Energy Efficiency Funding In Jeopardy

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About half the homes in Connecticut are heated with oil, now at more than $4 a gallon. But if those homeowners want help lowering their oil bills through energy efficiency, they could find themselves frozen out of a funding program unless the legislature takes action.

That’s the sound of a large fan set in the frame of Lars Helgeson’s kitchen door in Madison. Technicians from an energy services company are using it to figure out where air leaks are and fix them. 

It’s part of a program called Home Energy Solutions, or HES. It’s run by the state’s two electric utilities and the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund with money from fees customers pay on electric and gas bills. The cost for a HES audit and the services that come with it can actually run as high as $800, but the Efficiency Fund picks up all of that except $75, which Helgeson pays. Definitely a good deal.

“Good doesn’t cover it, great is actually an understatement”

But how much longer oil-heated homes like Helgeson’s will be eligible for this low price depends on action by the legislature. 

Oil users pay fees on their electricity, but they don’t pay fees on their oil the way owners of gas-heated homes do on their gas. So in past years, oil heated homes have had to pay more -- $300 for a HES assessment. Last year the legislature authorized using Energy Efficiency Fund funds to lower the price to $75, but funding was capped and is due to run out by mid-May.

That means people like Helgeson and Eco Smart, the energy services company working on his home, will both lose out. The company’s owner says she’d have to lay off half of her workers if funding doesn’t come through. 

“There are layers and layers of jobs involved in this” . That’s State Representative Lonnie Reed of Branford, who is also co-vice chair of the Energy and Technology committee. She’s backing legislation to at least temporarily lift the cap on funding oil heated homes and keep the audit price at no more than $75 dollars. “It makes sense. It’s smart for the environment and its smart for peoples pocketbooks.”

But the legislation probably will only buy a year. Legislators will still have to figure out how to permanently fund audits for oil-heated homes. Many officials and environmental advocates believe the answer is to add fees to heating oil.

JES: "Would you support an additional charge on fuel oil?"

“I don’t think so at this point.” Representative Lonnie Reed of Branford. “Any kind of new taxes right now as we know, in this atmosphere, is very onerous to people”. 

The Independent Connecticut Petroleum Association represents about 600 home heating oil dealers. Its vice president Chris Herb couldn’t agree more. “That’s a non starter from the beginning. We are not a utility. There’s no way for us to share those costs and spread them amongst a rate base”

Jamie Howland of the advocacy group Environment Northeast says an effort already is underway to bring the various parties together to work out a compromise before the money runs out again. “I think the long term solution is going to be a collaborative effort between the oil industry, environmental leaders, consumer advocates”

JES: "Can you do it without having the oil industry somehow kick in more money?"

“I can’t think of any alternatives to that at this point.”

Back at the Helgeson home, the news is surprisingly good – no work needed.

“I’m happy about that, I’d hate to have to do all sorts of insulation and major work on the place”

JES: "So you’re probably also glad you only had to spend 75 bucks for it and not several hundred?"

“That too, yes of course”. 

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