Efforts to weatherize area homes get boost from federal stimulus bill

Hundreds of low-income residents of Southeast Missouri will be able to insulate their homes and, in some cases, receive new energy-efficient furnaces and water heaters under the federal stimulus bill passed last week.

The two regional agencies that handle weatherization grants, the East Missouri Action Agency, or EMAA, and the Delta Area Economic Opportunity Corporation, or DAEOC, expect enough money to be able to clear waiting lists and accept new applications. Each agency expects to have more than $6 million for such programs over the next two years, 10 times current funding levels.

The two agencies distribute energy assistance and energy crisis intervention funds to help people pay their utility bills during winter months. Weatherization can, in some cases, mean clients no longer need help with those bills, said Erin Gotto, community services representative for the EMAA office in Cape Girardeau.

"It is a very worthwhile and great program," she said. "It is something that is more of a program that can help the client move toward being self-sufficient."

Under the program, applicants must have an income that is 150 percent of the federal poverty level or less, said Walt Goodman, administrator of the program for the EMAA. The program is open to homeowners and renters. Landlords must agree to a 5 percent match to qualify and the landlords must agree not to raise the rent for one year after the work is complete, Goodman said.

In the past, the program could accept about 150 dwellings a year, Goodman said. With the extra money, he expects to accept more than 550 homes each year in the EMAA's eight-county area.

In the six Bootheel counties served by the DAEOC, the funding has paid for about 100 weatherization jobs a year, said Jean Barham, executive director. There are about 300 names on the waiting list. Barham expects to be able clear that list and move on to new clients.

The DAEOC is putting together a list of churches, senior centers and other places to publicize the availability of the weatherization money, she said.

"We have just hired and trained some new energy auditors getting ready for this," she said.

In the area served by the EMAA, the guidelines allow for an average of $6,900 per home. That allows for items such as furnaces or water heaters to be part of the upgrades if the existing units are unsafe or old, inefficient models.

Guidelines call for a savings over 20 years of $1 for every dollar invested in a dwelling, Goodman said, but the targeted housing stock in the eight counties is so poor that the savings is often $2.50 over 20 years for every $1 invested.

In the Bootheel counties, the DAEOC spends an average of $2,900 per home.

Both the EMAA and DAEOC have money available for immediate needs for utility payments. Applications for those funds are due by March 31 and eligibility is based on income in the previous month, making newly unemployed people eligible when they would have been turned away in the past, Barham said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

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