Only 5,800 homes so far, half must be done by fall
A year after the federal stimulus program was passed, which included taxpayer funding for home weatherization, about 5,800 homes have been weatherized in Pennsylvania.
Weatherization involves protecting a building against extreme weather, for example by adding storm doors or adding insulation to the walls. The process is intended to improve energy efficiency in the structure.
The state plans to weatherize 34,246 homes by the time the program ends in 2012, though 80 percent of the total funds must be used by June 30, 2011. The state has until March 30, 2011 to use the remaining 20 percent of the funds.
Pennsylvania has been allotted $252,793,062 dollars in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding, though according to the state plan, the Department of Community and Economic Development’s (DCED) production timeline must “demonstrate capacity to expend at least 50% of the agency’s total ARRA funds by September 30, 2010. Spending authority will be constrained to a maximum only to that level of funding.”
To date, with an average of cost of $6,500 permitted per house, the commonwealth has spent $37,869,000 on 5,826 completed weatherized homes. This does not include administrative costs, which are limited to five percent, and one percent for training and technical assistance costs. DCED’s budget shows $8,257,514 of the ARRA funds have been committed to administrative purposes, with $1,586,361.50 actually spent so far.
State agencies can also request 25 to 50 percent of the first-year budget as an up-front or advance payment by providing a budget for the use of the advance payment and a budget narrative describing the need for the advance.
“You have to spend 50 percent of it and then you get other installments,” said Steve Weitzman, DCED press secretary. “We’re making progress and we’re hitting our stride. We’re about to hit stride. For the federal programming, this is an unprecedented infusion of new funds and there was time to ramp up infrastructure to handle it. Existing agencies had to hire new people, people had to buy new trucks and materials, [we] opened up six new training centers.”
The process was stalled, however, by Davis-Bacon laws which require the use of prevailing wage rates for all ARRA-funded weatherization projects. “We had to change a tire in a car without being allowed to stop the car,” said Mr. Weitzman. “[Davis-Bacon] caused everybody a lot of heartburn at the federal level, state level. There were issues that needed to be worked out on that. It was a factor. Davis-Bacon created quite a stir.”
The use of project labor agreements for all site work was not required, although Craig Heim, executive director for the Office of Energy Conservation & Weatherization, said “If the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation chooses to remediate large buildings, then they would partner with Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and there will be a labor agreement for apprentices to “step up” to this work with training and experience.” Mr. Heim’s office works within ¬¬DCED.
Mr. Heim said the ARRA program is intended to employ about 2,200 individuals to administer the funds, which would include those employed at pre-existing community action agencies, development authorities, installers, auditors, and subcontractors. (See list of agencies and units completed here)
“The agencies that we fund have been doing this work in many cases for 30 years. It’s community based organizations, non-profit for the most part,” the director said. As for state government itself, he said “We have 14 people in the management group and 12 monitors in the field. So far, we’re still adding a number of positions, roles. We have 10 of the 14 right now, and then the monitors we still have three monitors to hire and that’s critical because these are the people who see what’s going in each of the agencies.”
Mr. Heim said the number one goal was to save energy and dollars for “low-income families.” A single person earning 200 percent over the poverty level, or $21,600 annually, would be eligible. A family of four would have to earn $44,100 or less to be eligible.
“In every case, it’s a low-income family that wouldn’t be able to do this otherwise,” Mr. Heim said. “The weatherization program does work because when you remediate homes and seal them off, you’ll save a lot of money and a lot of energy over time. That’s the primary mission.”
As to the expected amount a family could save, however, Mr. Heim said “I wouldn’t even venture a guess on that. It would be different for each home.”
DCED will be holding a public hearing on Monday, May 24 at the PUC Hearing Room 2 on the Plaza level of the Commonwealth Keystone Building, located at 400 North Street, Harrisburg PA 17120, at 1 p.m.
