Senate Bill Aims to Conserve Energy and Stimulate Washington’s Economy

Cassidy Gardner

The Energy Office of Washington State University may be a key player in weatherizing homes across Washington and stimulating the state’s economy.

The Energy Office of WSU operates out of Olympia and is the only state funded and state sanctioned energy office.

Currently Senate Bill 5649 is being decided on, the overarching goal of the bill is to weatherize 20,000 homes a year for the next five years in Washington. If passed the fiscal note estimates the cost to implement the bill will be nearly $1.7 million dollars.

Weatherization refers to improving the energy efficiency in structures. This is commonly achieved by practices including but not limited to upgrading heating and ventilation or by putting in new insulation.

Sheila Riggs, the communications legislative and administrative division manager of the Energy Office of WSU, said she is in favor of the bill and signed in pro at the initial hearing of the bill.

The bill is currently being refined and reworded. Sen. Phil Rockefeller is the lead sponsor of the bill. He is also the chair of the Environment and Water Committee.

According to Riggs, Rockefeller has encouraged the Office of Energy of WSU to work with energy providers from across the state to make the bill as effective as possible.

The main objective of the bill is to weatherize residential homes, farms, and commercial buildings that have an annual revenue of less than $1 million a year. Low-income residents will receive priority funding to weatherize their homes.

Amanda Stauffer, an intern in the office of Sen. Tim Sheldon, who is also sponsoring the bill, said the Energy Office of WSU will be responsible for developing and implementing an effective system for allocating grants on a competitive basis.

She went on to say, “People sponsoring this bill see it as a way to stimulate the economy. One of the key goals of the bill is to create 7,500 jobs. It will employee energy auditors and work will be contracted out to businesses in communities across the state.”

Dale Miller, the manager of housing development for the Community Action Center of Whitman County, said he has been expecting the weatherization of homes to be ramped up because President Barack Obama has put much emphasis on significantly increasing weatherization.

In the federal economic stimulus package it is proposed that one million homes be weatherized per year for the next five years.

“We already have plans ready to ramp up how many buildings and homes we will be weatherizing in Whitman County. They are just dependent on different levels of funding that is offered, Miller said. “Right now we have our own crew of auditors who analyze whether it is effective to weatherize homes. But if we get the additional funding we may be hiring a construction manager, maybe an enthusiastic WSU graduate to manage all of our projects.”

Currently 30-40 homes are being weatherized a year in Whitman County. Miller said more like 300 homes should be weatherized a year because more than 3,000 homes in Whitman County are in need of the service.

“When you weatherize homes you reduce the amount of energy needed. Using less energy reduces the cost. People take the money they would spend on their heating bill and spend it elsewhere, stimulating the economy,” Miller said.

He went on to say weatherization in Pullman means more work for local electricians, plumbers, and contractors.

“Overall weatherizing is good a thing because conserving energy is the first step to reducing our dependence on foreign resources and it saves families money. Making existing buildings energy efficient is the first step to becoming a sustainable community,” Miller said.

To obtain funding, businesses, residences, and farms in Pullman would file a request with Community Action Center of Whitman County. Low-income residents, meaning they make less than 80 percent of the mean local income, will be given priority to funding. The residence or building is then audited and it is determined whether weatherization is cost effective. In Whitman County there is a 20 year payback threshold, meaning weatherization is considered cost effective if the money spent to weatherize will be saved in the next 20 years.

If the bill is passed this will be the first time Whitman County will be auditing and weatherizing farms and local businesses, prior to this bill they have focused solely on homes and individual residences.

Riggs said, “It would be very exciting to get the money to fund this project because weatherization is a very important issue for the entire state.”

Sources:

Amanda Stauffer
(360) 786-7999

Sheila Riggs
(360) 956-2074

Dale Miller
(509) 334-9147