By Kate Kampner, for the Community News Service
S.219, a bill that would kickstart the design of an energy coaching program, passed on the Senate floor on March 19.
Spearheaded by the Vermont Public Service Department, the program would give energy navigator services to Vermont residents.
Energy navigators are trained professionals or volunteers who inform residents how to make their homes more energy efficient, such as with weatherization projects or installing heat pumps. Under the bill, they would also inform clients about rebates and incentives.
Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, who sponsored the bill, said there are already existing programs across the state, but they have varying methods, successes, accessibility and ways to receive funding.
“Vermonters are really stretched thin right now financially,” she said, pointing to oil price spikes tied to the war in the Middle East. “Every day, Vermonters are trying to figure out how they can afford to heat their home, or cool their home, or run their refrigerator, and this program helps people find ways to reduce their energy burden.”
The program design would be in partnership with the Climate Economy Action Center of Addison County, an in-person, nonprofit energy navigator service. Members of the action center meet with residents to discuss their energy goals and objectives, assess their usage and identify home upgrades to improve electrification measures. The navigator then creates a plan to help residents become less reliant on fossil fuel-based heating systems.
The services include free follow-ups, six months to a year after the initial report.
“In this regard, Vermont is actually a little bit behind the times of other states,” said Steve Maier, chair of the Climate Economy Action Center board. “We think we’ve hit on a program that is well-needed in Vermont, and we know that more than just from our own perceptions.”
Maier said the center has received calls from other Vermont communities that are eager to copy and expand the nonprofit’s work.
That’s when Maier turned to Hardy and other state legislators to draft a bill that would create a statewide support program.
They landed on the proposed program design, to see how to improve and expand navigator programs. If the bill passes, the Department of Public Service is expected to report back its findings to legislators by March 2027.
On Feb. 27, Alek Antczak, director of the department’s efficiency and energy resources division, testified in support of the bill and accepted the spearheading position. He said the department has already been studying how to improve energy programs for low and moderate income Vermonters.
To comply with the bill, the department would then develop a second part of the study for energy navigator services that work for everyone. More than 100 publicly funded energy programs would be evaluated to inform a decision, according to the latest draft.
“Having these kinds of community-based programs, we think they’ll continue to be sort of labor-intensive and take time,” Maier said. “But they really are the only way that we’ve been able to see, to really provide the kind of information, and support that homeowners need to be ready to make the right decision when they can.”
Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship