As the Washington Senate considers SB 6656 on financing energy efficiency upgrades and energy conservation programs, Sightline Institute has detailed how such a program can create in-state jobs and reduce energy bills for families and businesses.

Specifically, Sightline recommends:

Family-friendly retrofits: Private sector-financing for energy efficiency investments are hard to get and potential savings are often unclear to homeowners. Revolving loan funds from local governments are a smart way to reuse the initial pool of federal stimulus.

Performance contracting: Not all energy retrofits are created equal; it’s important to choose the right projects. Auditing to determine the greatest opportunities for savings ensures we make the most of our investments.

On-bill financing: Letting families pay back their energy retrofit loans on their tax or utility bills makes energy efficiency easy and convenient.

The bottom line: Energy efficiencies mean big changes and big savings. Allowing local governments to make low interest loans for energy efficiencies–and letting people pay those loans back on their regular utility bills–is a big step toward a clean energy economy.

Read the full article here. I hope you’ll take a look.

Roger Valdez
Sightline Institute
206-447-1880 x 104
roger@sightline.org

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