MEA, Housing outline energy benefits

PALMER — Local homeowners eyeing energy savings can sometimes be confronted with sticker shock evaluating different options.

When examining possible energy-related improvements (swapping the longstanding and cheap incandescent lightbulbs with more expensive halogens, for example) it probably helps to think of those costs in the same terms you would think about your savings account, officials with MEA, The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority said at a sparsely attended forum Thursday evening.

Energy-saving measures effectively “pay” consumers by saving them money in the long run, said Katie Conway, assistant program manager for energy efficiency at AIDEA.

“Energy efficiency is an investment,” she said. “I’d like to challenge all of you to start thinking about energy efficiency in this way. Like any investment, that means you have to put a little money in, but you get a lot more out in the long run.”

The first step is figuring out where energy costs may be saved, known as an energy audit Conway said. From there, switching to energy-efficient lighting, and setting the water heater to a maximum of 120 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as using programmable thermostats, which lower the temperature during times when people aren’t likely to be home, and renovating or expanding with an eye toward saving long-term energy costs are the easiest possible steps, according to Conway.

“If you start to think about it that way, the price tag on those more expensive light bulbs is a lot easier to swallow,” she said. “The flip side of that is the sooner you implement cost saving measures, you’re making money.”

“Basically when you have an inefficient system, you’re wasting money every day,” Conway added.

Those renovations and expansions can pile on the dollars, which is why AHFC and other entities offer different types of financial assistance, according to Tim Leach, an energy specialist with the corporation. At the state level, there are three sources of money for energy improvements: grants, in which the government provides money to homeowners; cash, where homeowners spend their own money without expectation of reimbursement; and loans, where the government pays money out with the expectation of repayment.

“This is the real show-me-the-money moment here,” he said.

One example of a grant program is the relatively well-known weatherization program, sponsored in the Mat-Su by the Alaska Community Development Corporation, Leach said. The program allows not just homeowners but also apartment dwellers making less than certain pre-set income amounts to qualify for contract work on their houses. The requirements amounts are set relatively high (A family of four is limited to a maximum income of 78,500) to encourage participation, Leach said.

Another form of encouraging energy efficiency comes in the form of rebates, Leach said. Homeowners who build new homes with energy efficiency in mind can qualify for a $10,000 rebate for homes that meet the strictest requirements. Homeowners who build homes meeting the five-star energy rating can also qualify for a $7,000 rebate. The average new home constructed nowadays is typically a five-star or above rating anyway.

Perhaps more critical for the Valley: the AHFC provides rebates for improving existing home stock with an eye toward energy efficiency. Houses that improve their energy rating one step, for example, are eligible for up to a $4,000 rebate. Houses improving five or more steps are eligible for $10,000, according to Leach.

That’s especially important for older houses, which can sometimes have cotton insulation, among them, or even old newspapers, Leach said.

A relatively large rate increase last year (it recently took effect in January) has also raised awareness of energy savings in the Valley, said Julie Estey, a spokeswoman for MEA. While the increase is larger than those reported by either Chugach Electric or Municipal Light and Power, those utilities will feel the pinch as legacy natural gas contracts expire and are renegotiated under less ludicrous terms, Estey said.

“That will start leveling out,” she said.

More information about weatherization is available at ahfc.us.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.