Dane County Launches Home Energy Guides Program to Help Underserved Households Access Clean Energy Services

July 02, 2024
Exec Media, 608-266-4114
County Executive

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced today that Dane County will receive $266,890 in Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) funds to fund a home energy efficiency and electrification campaign called Home Energy Guides that will target households often underserved by energy programs.

“Dane County aims to achieve a just clean energy future—which means ensuring that all members of our community have access to services that reduce energy bills as well as access to the family-supporting jobs associated with delivering those energy services,” said Dane County Executive Jamie Kuhn. “I’m proud that we are investing these federal funds in partnerships with community-based organizations, building local organizational capacity to address household energy issues over the long term.”

Coordinated through the Office of Energy & Climate Change (OECC), Dane County will use the EECBG funds to contract with three community-based organizations with strong ties to underserved populations. The target populations will be groups that have lower levels of participation in energy efficiency programs such as BIPOC communities, households where the primary language is not English, renters, rural households, elderly or disabled populations. OECC will train staff at the community-based organizations so that they can identify the efficiency and electrification opportunities in homes and so that they also understand the array of programs available to address those opportunities. Then OECC will support the community teams as they do outreach and engagement to connect households with programs.

“This is not just an information campaign. Our aim is to provide ongoing support so that our partners can support households to participate fully in these landmark programs,” said Kuhn. As part of the program, the community-based organizations will identify remaining participation barriers and report back to OECC so staff can address them.

“Our partners will learn new approaches to serve communities effectively, and then our staff can work with state officials to modify the programs where feasible,” said Kuhn.

Under the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act of 2021, the Biden Administration has expanded existing resources like Low Income Weatherization while also creating new Home Energy Rebate programs to support low and moderate income households realize the benefits of energy efficiency and electrification via rebates that can cover up to 100% of the costs of some measures. These programs create substantive opportunities to renovate existing homes and apartments, reducing energy bills while increasing comfort and safety.

OECC is currently accepting proposals from entities interested in serving as a community-based partner. Proposals are due July 18 and the Request for Proposals is available at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/countyofdane/projects/91449.

In addition to this equity-focused work, OECC is also partnering with a variety of local nonprofits to ensure that all Dane County households are aware of the various clean energy opportunities available, especially through the Inflation Reduction Act. More information about all of the new and expanded programs is available on the OECC website at https://daneclimateaction.org/what-you-can-do/federal-funding.

“Current federal funding for clean energy is truly unprecedented,” said Kuhn. “We are determined to collaborate with partners to maximize the benefits of that funding here in Dane County.”