H.439 Weatherization for Low-income Vermonters
Helping low-income Vermonters weatherize their homes is good for our economy and our way of life. H.439 generates the money to do this by asking higher income Vermonters to pay a mere average of $2/month to invest in low-income weatherization. This plan will provide the best bang for the buck and boost Vermont’s economy, while saving lives.
H.439 Will Improve the Health of Vulnerable Vermonters
In a recent report, the Vermont Dept. of Health estimated that weatherizing 2,000 low-income homes in Vermont would help prevent an estimated 223 emergency department visits, 13 hospitalizations, and 0.5 deaths over a 10-year period, associated with reduced health impacts caused by asthma, cold and heat. They also estimated the 10-year value of energy and health benefits from weatherization to be at least $24,757 per household, or about three times the initial cost.
Vermonters with limited incomes can least afford the costs of inefficient homes and volatile fossil fuel prices. They stand to gain the most – in savings and health – from this crucial program.
Weatherizing Works
Currently Vermont invests approximately $10 million in state funds annually to weatherize about 900 vulnerable Vermonters’ homes. This cost, approximately $8,500 per home, achieves an approximate 29% energy savings per home (average $500/year) and lowers greenhouse emissions by about 1.8 tons per home annually.
Weatherization can help reduce low income Vermonters’ energy bills and free up more of their money to spend on other important things: education, health care, food, childcare and other things that contribute to our economy.
Heating an inefficient, leaky home is like sending dollars up the chimney and out the windows. Rural and low income Vermonters are the most likely to live in these homes.
The Best Bang for your Buck
Investing in efficiency has proven time and again to be one of the highest return investments possible in the energy sector. The cheapest energy source is the energy that you don’t use.
For every $1 invested in weatherization $2.51 is returned to the household and community.
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that for every $1 invested in weatherization, it returns over FOUR times ($4.50) in energy and non-energy benefits…creating lower bills, healthier homes, greater comfort, greater productivity, and reducing GHG emissions. There is no investor on Wall Street who wouldn’t want that cost/benefit ratio.
The Vermont Department of Health estimates that the 10-year benefit of weatherization in fuel savings and health is nearly THREE times greater than the initial investment per household.
H.439 will be Good for Vermont’s Economy
Efficiency supports the largest number of clean energy jobs in Vermont (10,600 in 2017). Of those, 7,800 Vermonters are employed in weatherization and thermal efficiency.
This investment will create more jobs in Vermont’s fastest growing job sector – clean energy – equating to full time jobs through the WAP agencies and their subcontractors.
This investment would help keep far more Vermont energy dollars in state. Vermont imports 100 percent of the fossil fuels we use. That means 78 cents out of every dollar spent on fossil fuels leaves the state, creating a significant drain on our economy.
For every dollar invested in weatherization, roughly 50 cents goes to local labor and about 30 cents buys materials (mostly from local suppliers) with the remainder going to equipment, vehicles, supplies and administration. Most of these dollars stay local, recirculating and helping to bolster Vermont’s economy.
H.439 Will Help Vermont Meet Climate Goals
Since 2005, Vermont has had greenhouse gas emissions goals in statute, aimed at doing our part to address the increasingly urgent issue of climate change. We are falling far short of those goals and more needs to be done to reduce energy consumption in our 2nd most carbon-intensive sector. To meet our GHG targets and get to 90% renewable by 2050, Vermont needs to drive down about 1/3 of its energy consumption through efficiency.
In 2007, the Vermont Legislature set a goal of weatherizing at least 25% of the state’s housing stock by 2020 (approximately 80,000 housing units overall). As of 2017 (latest figures), Vermont was at 25,409 overall and just over 10,000 low-income. We have a ways to go.
This is also one of the most economically impactful climate action strategies the state could embrace. Recently, at the request of JFO, the Regulatory Assistance analyzed “non pricing” climate and energy solutions. Their high level takeaway? In terms of addressing climate change, weatherization “avoid(s) carbon emissions at better than zero cost.”
Let’s take a stand for our most vulnerable Vermonters and give an extra boost to our economy while we’re at it!
For more information, here are some recent editorials about Vermont Weatherization efforts:
● Maura Collins: How we heat our homes matters
