Courtney, Access Agency Team up for Weatherization Tours, Villager Newspapers

Courtney, Access Agency Team up for Weatherization Tours

Matt Sanderson

Villager Newspapers

9/12/08

DANIELSON — Congressman Joe Courtney (D-Conn., 2nd District) and representatives from the Access Agency paid three residents in three different counties a visit last Wednesday to go over reducing household energy costs through the agency’s weatherization assistance program. Access Agency’s weatherization assistance program began approximately 30 years ago, according to Kathryn Crees, director of development of community services. She said the program consists of various measures taken to make a home more energy efficient. A weatherization audit is performed at a home to know where energy is escaping the house.

“Measures include insulation, storm windows, doors, caulking, clean tune, and tests of furnaces and repair,” she said. “In addition, low-flow aerators, energy-efficient light bulbs, etc., will save on the electric bill. Homeowners are provided with information regarding what they can do to save energy, like shutting off computers and unplugging items.”

The weatherization tour last Wednesday included a stop at a house in New London, a house in Tolland and the home of Stacey Sheppard in Danielson. She said the congressman and representatives from the agency spent more than six hours auditing and working on her house.

“They sealed up my windows and insulated my basement door,” said Sheppard. “They’re coming back to blow insulation into my walls and change my light bulbs.”

Sheppard said she was contacted last May by Courtney about the tour and thought it would be a good idea.

“I think it will make a big difference,” she said about the upcoming winter and the agency’s help. “I applied for oil assistance in April.” Crees said the visits provided people the opportunity to understand the importance of weatherizing their homes.

“In a time when oil is at an all-time high and the cost of living is going through the roof for everyone, it highlights how important it is to keep your heat inside your home and not let it escape through the roof and windows,” she said. Crees said Courtney had requested the tour in order to familiarize himself with the process.

“Congressman Courtney is trying very hard to restore and add funds to this program,” she said. Courtney said the weatherization program is federally funded through the Department of Energy.

“It’s a very smart program,” he said, “because if taxpayers are going to be paying for fuel expenses, we should couple that program to make sure that the homes that are benefiting are as energy efficient as possible.”

Courtney said last year’s energy budget called $250 million for weatherization programs across the country. “President Bush requested zero dollars,” Courtney said about this year’s weatherization budget request. “So, we had to overcome that. It makes no sense to pay for heat if you have homes that are full of cracks.”

He said they are in the midst of another budget battle in Congress to counter the proposed

2008 $0 increase for weatherization spending. He said the New England caucus calls for quadrupling the $250 million in weatherization spending to $1 billion.

Courtney said that during the weatherization tour, such as at the Sheppard household, they sucked the energy out of the house so they were able to tell where air was coming in.

“There was no insulation along the foundation and there were old windows,” he said about one of the houses they toured. “The readings we got was that the home was using about twice as much energy with which what would have been the case if they had proper insulation.” Courtney said that in Danielson they mostly did the second phase of the process, which was the actual fixing of windows, caulking and sealing.

“The home was energy eligible,” he said. Access Agency has two different sources of funding for the weatherization program, according to Crees. She said one is through the Department of Energy and the other is through Connecticut Light and Power called the Weatherization Residential Assistance Partnership (WRAP).

“With the Department of Energy funds we anticipate serving 200 households in Windham, Tolland and New London county,” she said. “Through WRAP, since January we have served 774 households, which by the end of the year will represent about 1,500 households.”

For more information on the weatherization program, call Access Agency at 450-7146 or visit online at www.accessagency.org. For more information on Courtney’s energy initiatives, visit www.joecourtney.com or contact his campaign headquarters in Vernon at 577-8283.