‘Explosion of money’ sparks training rush

ALEX DeMARBAN
alex@alaskanewspapers.com

June 20, 2008 at 5:46PM AKST

A gusher of money approved by the state Legislature to improve the energy efficiency of homes across Alaska has left housing officials scrambling to catch up.

Phones are ringing away at the Alaska Housing Finance Corp.’s Anchorage office.

Homeowners and others want answers on how the $300 million infusion will be spent, and, most important, who’s eligible. 

“My ears hurt, literally,” sighed Scott Waterman, an energy specialist. “I’m using my right ear today because I used my left ear yesterday. And I’m not even fielding calls from the general public. I’m dealing with people who have technical questions.”

Buckets of the bonanza are heading to rural Alaska. But that’s led to a shortage of energy auditors and raters in the Bush who can determine when a house needs more insulation and a new water heater or just caulk for the windows.

House officials hope the shortage ends soon. 

In recent weeks, they’ve launched an intense statewide effort to train dozens of energy auditors and raters, Waterman said.

And that’s just the beginning. Hundreds more contractors will be needed to do the work, he said.

The money will be distributed under two AHFC programs.

Neither program is new. But the size of this year’s effort is unprecedented.

Last year, the programs received a total of $6 million, officials said. The Legislature also loosened eligibility requirements, so money is available to thousands more people.  

The largest boost comes under the corporation’s Weatherization Program. It will provide $200 million for homes at or below the median income level. Regional housing authorities and other agencies will do the energy analysis and work.

For example, about $20 million will go to the Bethel region. 

The AVCP Regional Housing Authority in Bethel will get $3 million of that to weatherize homes it manages, said Ron Hoffman, president. The authority plans to weatherize 240 homes a year for the next five years.

RurAL CAP, which provides weatherization services across chunks of Alaska, will do the rest of the work available for the Bethel region under that program.

A second effort -- the Home Energy Rebate Program -- will help qualifying homeowners who aren’t benefiting from the weatherization program.

The rebate program provides $100 million to reimburse homeowners around the state up to $10,000 for improving the energy efficiency of their homes. There is no income limit and the benefits apply only to owner-occupied housing.

The rebate program pays to have certified energy raters -- their services are reimbursed up to $500 -- do a before-and-after assessment of homes.

The “explosion of money” has Alaska Works Partnership racing to get auditors trained, said Mike Andrews, director.

Andrews said the programs will help people jumpstart new businesses to do the work. For many, it will also reduce electric and heating prices for years to come.

“It’s not only an energy program but a job creator. There’s going to be a huge amount of work fixing these homes up,” he said.

Earlier this month, working with Bristol Bay Housing Authority, Alaska Works Partnership trained about 30 energy auditors in the village of King Salmon on the Alaska Peninsula.

The training classes will work their way up the Western Alaska coast, he said. 

Next stop? Bethel.

In late June, the organization will work with the AVCP Regional Housing Authority to kick off the first of two classes to create energy auditors there.

The energy auditors will rate houses for the weatherization program.

With additional training, they can become certified energy raters. The energy raters assess homes for the rebate program.

Training classes to create more energy raters got under way in Anchorage and Fairbanks this month.

More will follow, Waterman said. The classes so far have included students from rural regions such as Barrow, Nome and Bethel, but more will be needed, he said.

“We’d love to get raters to at least the hub communities,” he said. “That’s where we’re targeting our training.”

 

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Alex DeMarban can be reached at (907) 348-2444 or (800) 770-9830, ext. 444.

 

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To learn more about the programs:

Visit http://www.ahfc.state.ak.us/home/index.cfm.

To see how the AHFC plans to distribute money statewide under the weatherization program, visit:

http://www.ahfc.state.ak.us/iceimages/energy/allocation_weatherization.pdf

To see how the AHFC plans to distribute money statewide under the rebate program, visit:

http://www.ahfc.state.ak.us/iceimages/energy/allocation_energy_rebate.pdf