Weatherization work on hold until $58 million in stimulus money arrives
01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, August 11, 2009
By Peter B. Lord
Journal Environment Writer
More than $58 million in federal stimulus money has been earmarked to jumpstart Rhode Island into a new era of energy conservation and alternative sources of energy. But none of that money has actually reached the state.For each of three proposed energy programs, the state has spent months drawing up plans and holding hearings. It proposes spending money to weatherize houses, conserve energy use in government buildings and finance solar and wind projects. But it now must wait for federal officials to approve their spending plans and hand over some money.
So strictly speaking, the stimulus money has not yet directly created any new jobs in the energy sector.
State officials hope to get word on at least some of the money by September, but the timetable is uncertain.
Governor Carcieri has high hopes for the energy stimulus money. “That would be one of the more transformative things, in terms of helping our economy, because long-term energy prices and energy costs are a big impact in New England,” he said in a recent interview.
In particular, he said he hopes there is money to pay for energy transmission lines for renewable energy. Midwestern governors want to spend billions of dollars transporting their energy to the East, but Carcieri would rather see the Northeastern states building more lines to serve their residents with wind energy generated offshore. The state will have to file a competitive grant application directly with the U.S. Energy Department to receive such funding, and that hasn’t happened yet, according to Amy Kempe, Carcieri’s spokeswoman.
Despite the delays, companies across the state are preparing in various ways to make use of the funding, even though very little information is available.
Connie McGreavy, chair of the Rhode Island Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, said the number of professional architects, engineers and builders certified to do “green building” work in Rhode Island has grown from 150 to 324 in recent months as people prepare to do work with the stimulus funds and other green initiatives.
RISE Engineering, a company that has provided home energy audits in Rhode Island for decades, hopes to apply for some state stimulus money, but RISE president Vin Graziano says he doesn’t know what kind of projects the state will support.
“We’re interested and anxious about the state plans. We’ve provided input. But until they get things firmed up a little more, it is difficult to make concrete plans,” says Graziano. He said he hopes the state targets some of its money to middle-class homeowners dependent on oil heat — a group that has received little assistance in the past.
“Personally, I think this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make an impact for a large number of people,” Graziano said.
In the meantime, RISE has doubled its staff in the last two years (to about 165) in response to more spending by utilities on energy conservation in homes. RISE is also spreading its work into nearby states, to the point where 75 percent of its work is done outside Rhode Island.
With the extra staff, RISE is now providing home energy audits within about a week of requests. As recently as last year, it was backed up for months.
Dryvit, a West Warwick-based company that manufacturers home insulating building products, has notified vendors, school committees and contractors across the country that its products would be useful to people working on making buildings more energy efficient.
Pare Engineering, a longtime civil engineering firm in Rhode Island, recently joined with EAPC Wind Energy Services of Norwich, Vt., to offer design and permitting services for wind turbine projects.
Applied Science Associates, a South Kingstown engineering firm that concentrated on tracking ocean currents in its early years, is working on wind-turbine feasibility studies and planning at sites all over the world.
Beyond the delays in obtaining the stimulus money, there are other concerns.
The top two people in the 10-person state energy office are leaving. Their departures may be critical because they led efforts to draft the spending plans and were expected to administer the $58 million in spending.
Energy Commissioner Andrew Dzykewicz left for a job in private industry. Deputy Director Janet Keller is retiring.
Also, the state has been slow in adding nine new people to the department. The positions were posted in June. Nobody has been hired yet.
Kempe said the administration has assigned Ron Renaud, executive director of the state Department of Administration, to review the state energy program and find ways to move it forward.
“We’re kind of in a holding pattern,” she said last week.
The delays have prompted mixed reactions.
McGreavy, of the Green Building Council, says she hasn’t heard any complaints from people in the energy industry.
“I can’t fault the bureaucracy for not moving any quicker than it is,” she said. “My worry is that this will get rushed and the money won’t be spent as intended.”
But Karina Lutz, deputy director of People’s Power & Light, a nonprofit energy collaborative based in Providence, says the departures of Dzykewicz and Keller are “at the worst possible moment” as the state tries to implement its energy plans.
She credits the state energy office for carefully designing new programs. But she said now it needs “all hands on deck” to put them into action.
Community action agencies across the state have been doing home weatherization work for years and look forward to the infusion of money the stimulus legislation offers.
But one complication has arisen with weatherization. The stimulus legislation requires that conservation workers be paid prevailing local wages according to the federal Davis Bacon Act, yet there is no specified prevailing wage for people weatherizing houses.
Paula McFarland, director of Rhode Island Community Action, a network of eight agencies, says she has been notified that the U.S. Department of Labor will establish the prevailing rates at the end of August.
“It’s very difficult to spend money until we have money,” she said. “But we’re ramped up and we are ready to go once the money comes down.”
When the money is approved, it won’t go very far, McFarland cautioned. With a limit of $6,500 per housing unit, that means fewer than 2,000 will be weatherized. But some 12,000 homes are already on waiting lists.
With reports by Steve PeoplesEnergy facts
•Virtually all of Rhode Island’s energy is generated by fuels brought in from elsewhere
• Along with Massachusetts and Connecticut, Rhode Island pays some of the highest energy pricese in the country
• Per capita energy use in Rhode Island is the lowest in the nation
Source:
A new Rhode Island energy plan
plord@projo.com
Article grabbed from: http://www.projo.com/economy/RI_Stimulus_Green_08-11-09_I3F9JM3_v21.38acc56.html
As a note – EIFS application, furnace replacement and roofing all have fairly standard skilled-trade rates.
