Federal stimulus will help homeowners weatherize homes

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More than 2,000 homes on Long Island will be weatherized this year at no cost to homeowners, thanks to federal stimulus money subsidizing energy efficiency projects, U.S. Representative Tim Bishop announced at a press conference last week.

The Community Development Corporation of Long Island, a non-profit agency that focuses on serving poor neighborhoods, is receiving $10.5 million in federal grant money through New York State to spend on weatherization projects, the congressman said.

The extra cash will allow the agency to outfit 2,150 homes this year with new furnaces, energy-efficient doors and windows, and insulated attics—all designed to save homeowners hundreds of dollars per year on heating costs.

The congressman made the announcement before a roomful of seniors at Greenwood Village, a 450-home retirement community in Manorville, where many of the homes are heated by both natural gas and electricity.

“Everybody wins with this,” Mr. Bishop said. “It’s a good program, and I’m delighted that it’s included in this stimulus bill.”

New York State is receiving $395 million in grant money for energy efficiency projects this year as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Mr. Bishop told the retirees that winterizing a home can reduce energy consumption and therefore bring down heating bills. Lessening the consumption of fossil fuels also “reduces our dependence on foreign oil and improves national security,” he said.

Weatherization, he added, “is important because it will save a homeowner money. The average heating bill will go down by 32 percent when a home is weatherized.”

Community Development Corporation President Marianne Garvin at the event on Monday urged the seniors, many of whom are on fixed incomes, to apply with the organization for a free home inspection to determine whether their homes need to be weatherized. The typical wait for an application to be processed is a year, she said.

“This is a huge increase [in funding], and it is an opportunity to help folks like you who face really high utility bills,” Ms. Garvin said.

In total, the agency has about $14 million in federal and state money to spend on weatherizing homes. In a normal year, the organization weatherizes about 600 homes in Nassau and Suffolk counties at a cost of $2.8 million, funded through state grant money.

“Our plan is to weatherize about 2,100 units for this year going into next year,” Ms. Garvin said. “We are determined that every single penny that has been allocated to us for Long Island will get spent.”

After the press conference, Mr. Bishop shook hands and chatted with elderly residents like Pat and Tom Ryan, whose Social Security payments are their main source of income. The couple, who have lived in Greenwood Village for two years, spent $372 to heat their home last month, noting that their home can be a bit drafty at times and tends to have cold floors.

“I’m going to sign up and they can always kick me out if we don’t fit,” said Mr. Ryan, 74. To qualify for the program, a household of two cannot exceed an annual income of $30,800.

“It’s good that this program gets into use,” Mr Ryan continued. “The only thing is that they said it would be a year or two for the application to go through. At our age, that is a significant amount of time.”

Alice Zach, 79, who has lived in Greenwood Village for 10 years, also seemed enthused about the program. She cannot afford to make upgrades to her home, she said. She lives on $13,500 she receives annually from Social Security. She spent about $200 to heat her home last month.

“My income is pretty low, so it’s hard for me to do much of anything,” said Ms. Zach, who plans to sign up for the weatherization program. “It would be good if it was processed sooner. But if it can’t be, it can’t be.”

The stimulus bill was a wedge issue for many of Mr. Bishop’s constituents on Long Island. Some constituents even protested against the bill outside Mr. Bishop’s office in Coram as it was being debated in Congress earlier this year.

But Mr. Bishop, who voted in favor of the bill, defended the stimulus package. The federal money that will go toward weatherizing homes on Long Island is an example of the benefits the stimulus package will have in creating jobs and stimulating the economy, he said.

“A lot of people were very upset by the stimulus bill,” Mr. Bishop said. “This is an example of why I and other members of Congress voted for the recovery package. It’s programs like these that help low income people cope with everyday expenses.”