Karen Vincent, administrative coordinator for Community Housing Partners Energy Solutions, knows from personal experience what a difference weatherizing a home can make.
“I could feel the difference right away,” Vincent said. “As soon as they were done, I could feel the tightness and my [heating] bill in the winter went from $185 to $190 a month to $86 or $84; so it does pay off.”
Vincent has worked at CHP — a company that utilizes federal and other funding to provide weatherization for qualified individuals based on income and other factors — for more than three years.
Vincent is based in the company’s Waynesboro office, which serves localities including Nelson County. This program is not an emergency repair program, although the company also helps emergency repairs from November through March 15.
Funding sources include the U.S. Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance program, which funds efforts to increase energy efficiency for low-income households.
Utility bills can be especially burdensome for those living in poverty. Of those households that are 50 percent below the federal poverty level, more than 50 percent of their annual income goes toward paying energy bills, “a large burden for a family of four making less than $11,000 per year,” according to the company’s website.
“Middle-income families, by comparison, pay 4.4 percent of their annual income towards energy needs,” according to the company information packet.
Meghan McMillen, senior manager with the company, said the program aims to make households, whether the occupant owns or rents, more energy efficient by making upgrades that an auditor recommends.
“Because older systems, if they’re not properly care for, have a tendency to work harder and use more energy, which is why it can make someone’s electricity bill go up. New systems lower electric bills.”
The company has provided weatherization services since 1976. It completes weatherization for 300 to 400 clients per year in 39 localities in Virginia, McMillen said.
The company has served Nelson County, among other Central Virginia localities, since October 2014, McMillen said. In the first year, it weatherized one household in Nelson County. In the 2016-2017 fiscal year, it helped 11 clients.
For this current fiscal year, which ends June 30, the company has weatherized homes for 18 clients.
Marketing and outreach accounts for the increase in clients served in Nelson County, McMillen said.
McMillen encourages people to call and see if they meet the eligibility requirements. Along with income, there are some automatic qualifying factors, such as if anyone in the household receives Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or fuel/energy assistance, she said.
McMillen said the program compares the applicant’s salary to Virginia’s median income, which can be skewed higher because of higher salaries in Northern Virginia. For example, a police officer with a spouse and child cannot have a household salary of more than $47,000, she said, adding a household of one with a salary lower than about $29,600 also qualifies.
“We don’t want them to assume they don’t qualify when in fact they very may well,” McMillen said.
Vincent said a client can expect the process to take about a year, from applying to completing the weatherization services, because there is a waiting list.
“The main thing is helping people,” Vincent said. “When you have someone who calls you and thanks you so much, that’s better than any paycheck. When someone said you helped me, you made our life better, we are saving on our electricity bill — it all makes it worthwhile.”
For more information, call the CHP Waynesboro office, (540) 949-5879.