WASHINGTON – An energy-efficiency program aimed at helping lower-income Rhode Islanders save on their heating bills will receive “an immediate infusion of $1.29 million,” U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse said today.
The money “will help Rhode Islanders take simple steps to conserve energy in their homes by installing insulation, repairing outdated heating systems or sealing up drafty old doors and windows,” the senators said. It will be put to work immediately, they added, because the R.I. Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) has a four-year backlog of eligible families waiting for assistance.
“This is a cost-effective way to help Rhode Islanders save on their heating bills and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels” said Reed, who over the past five years has helped secure more than $5.75 million in federal money for weatherization efforts in the Ocean State.
“This is a forward-looking program that helps people insulate their homes and allows them to save money,” he added. “It also makes good environmental sense. We now save more energy each year from energy efficiency than we get from any single energy source, including oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear power, reducing pollution from greenhouse gases that lead to global warming.”
Since its launch in 1975, WAP has helped weatherize more than 33,000 homes in Rhode Island alone, saving an estimated 101 million gallons of heating oil. Nationwide, more than 5.8 million homes have been weatherized with the help of WAP and other assistance.
“As Rhode Island families face winter in the midst of record unemployment and economic uncertainty, weatherization is a way to save money, create jobs, and help make homes more energy efficient,” Whitehouse said. “This is valuable assistance that will help this year, and for many years, and I hope Congress will provide additional weatherization funding if we pass new economic-stimulus legislation.”
Today’s payment – the first installment of the roughly $2.5 million in federal aid the R.I. WAP is slated to receive this fiscal year – was part of $1.9 billion in WAP funding nationwide included by lawmakers in the Continuing Resolution (CR) measure that keeps the government running while the annual spending bill is being developed. Altogether, Congress has budgeted more than $250 million this year for weatherization programs nationwide.
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Additional information about energy-efficiency and heating-assistance programs for low-income Rhode Islanders – including the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in Rhode Island – is available from the R.I. Office of Energy Resources at www.energy.ri.gov.
