Where to Listen:
Yes, there are 150-million reasons to listen to this episode. Because Wisconsin has $150 million dollars in federal funding to help make our homes warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, healthier, more efficient.
A look at two little-known programs that survived the big Federal cuts and are ready to be used by you.
Host:
Amy Barrilleaux
Guests:
Dylan Crye, Home Energy Rebates Program Manager, Focus on Energy
Joe Pater, Dir. Office of Energy Innovation, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Resources for You:
Watts Up Wisconsin – Focus on Energy podcast
Home Energy Rebates Help Wisconsinites Save Big
Transcript:
Joe If folks are interested in upgrading their homes, this is a wonderful opportunity to get started. These funds are available right now, so come and get them.
Amy Come and get them. Welcome to the Defender podcast. I’m Amy Barrilleaux. The Defender is powered by Clean Wisconsin, your environmental voice since 1970. So yes, there are 150 million reasons to listen to this episode because Wisconsin has 150 million dollars in federal funding to help make our homes warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, healthier, more efficient, all the things. Alook at two little known programs that survived the big federal cuts and are ready to be used by you. That’s right now on The Defender. You might already know this, but we are pretty lucky to be in Wisconsin right now. First, we have an excellent statewide energy efficiency program called Focus on Energy. It’s a program Clean Wisconsin fought hard for at the Capitol to get it created back in 1999. And we are one of just a handful of states that received major federal funding to address energy waste in our homes. Joining me to talk about the home energy rebate programs that are available right for thousands of Wisconsinites, our Dylan Crye with Focus on Energy. And Joe Pater with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. Thank you both so much for being here.
Dylan Absolutely, thanks for having us.
Joe Yeah, excited to be here today, talk about the programs.
Amy So I think people may be surprised to learn that we have these programs in Wisconsin because we all sat here in July and saw the big federal budget that was passed that said the IRA, the Inflation Reduction Act is going away. And yet we still have programs that were spawned by the Inflation Reduction Act here in Wisconsin. So what happened? Why do we have these programs?
Joe So these programs remain because they were not cut in that legislation. And the things that were changed is that the tax credits related to residential energy efficiency upgrades and also solar PV installations, those have now been given an end date of December 31st, 2025, so they still remain for a few more months. Um, but the good thing is they did not, the legislation did not touch the homes or the here program at all. And since we were already set up and running, we’ve just continued to run the programs and we will continue to do that.
Amy It kind of underscores why it was so important for Wisconsin to start at this early, because not every state is going to have these programs. How many states have the, it’s the HOMES and the HEAR program, is that right? How many states have these program right now that were not cut?
Dylan Yeah, there’s five states right now that have both programs up and running that we’re aware of today, at least. And a big part of that was because in Wisconsin, we have focus on energy and we’ve got this infrastructure that existed. We had administrators and implementation teams and everyone ready to go to get these programs designed, stood up, established. And we were able to do that quickly enough before there was a bit of turmoil a bit earlier this year.
Amy I do remember the announcement of those programs probably about a year ago. Do you think most people are aware that those programs launched and that they are available?
Joe Good question. That’s a really good question. We do have, I think we’re at maybe 3,000 to 4,000 customers who have come through the portal, the system to get qualified. So we know there’s at least that many who are aware. Almost 200 trade allies or contractors are out talking about the program throughout the state. So we know they’re spreading the word. Um, but as to the question, does everybody know about these programs? Probably not. And that’s part of why we’re here today to talk about that and hope the word gets out even further.
Amy And you need the word to get out, right, because it’s a lot of people in Wisconsin who might qualify for this program. Is that right?
Dylan Yeah, so there’s two programs. There’s the HOMES and there’s HEAR. The homes program, literally everyone in the state, all income levels can be eligible for this program. How much money is available is gonna change based on the income of your household. That’s based on area median income. So it’s essentially the county you live in and the size of your house hold. We do have to do an income check. And if you are low or moderate income, As defined by DOE, then there is additional money available for you in the HOMES program. And then the HEAR program is the low and moderate income households only. And so that is restricted. Moderate income is all the way up to 150% area median income though. So really, I mean, that’s over half of the state, right, is eligible for these both programs, both Homes and HERE.
Dylan And maybe we should talk about the differences of the two programs. Um, the homes program is a whole home efficiency program that starts with an energy assessment of the home and will include modeling that’s provided by the contractor to determine, you know, the potential path that the homeowner could take. Um, and that also actually applies to multifamily residences as well. So you can think of, you know, options being, uh, you know, provided to the decision maker on what they could do in the residence. And, um, it’s kind of a comprehensive whole home view on a project. Whereas the here project or here program is more rebate based per measure. So for example, you can get a rebate on a heat pump, water heater, or, uh, insulation and air sealing project. And it is more measure based. It’s not, you don’t have to do everything. You could do one thing at a time.
Joe Yeah, just to add to that, so Holmes is technology agnostic. We can do fossil fuel based appliances. We can upgrade to your furnace or your boiler. The HEAR program though is electrification only. And so the whole intent of that program is to move folks from fossil fuel into electric energy use products. And so there are some additional restrictions on that, but it’s a little simpler because it is a kind of measure by measure upgrade.
Amy OK, well, you’ve just both laid down a lot of information. So the HOMES program is kind of based on somebody comes into your house, an energy assessor, and goes and does the infrared testing, blow a door. I know there’s some complexities there. And kind of finds out, OK, what does your home need? Does it need more insulation or better windows or some of these things? Now, my confusion comes in. Do people have to pay for that assessment? And then, let’s say, OK, I need more insulation. Then you kind of go in and say, my income is x. How much insulation do I get help paying for? Or I feel like there used to be some tax credits involved in this program a little bit. And are they still available? So that’s like eight layers of questions for you all to answer.
Dylan That is a lot of layers of questions. And so the individual you’re talking about, the energy advisor, these are the experts that are going to come out to your house. They will very often perform a blower door test, which is, we used to be called the big red door test. They essentially depressurize the house and try to find where the air leaks are, where we’re losing energy in the home. But they also look at a ton of other stuff, right? They look at the efficiency of our equipment. Insulation up in the attics or down in the basement. And so getting these experts out to give us that sense of where in the home we can save energy is a necessary step in the Homes program. To be eligible to participate in the program, we do have to see at least 20% estimated energy savings. And so the energy assessor, they take all of their observations and then they take it back home. And they put it through energy model. And that model, they decide in conversation with the homeowner what upgrades they would be interested in pursuing. So if they want a new furnace or they wanna get a bunch of insulation up in the attic, that energy assessor can model that then in the home energy model. And after the computer runs in all its little calculations and spits out a number, if the estimated savings is over 20%, then that customer is eligible to participate in the homes program. You’d asked about income. And so we do have an income qualification process. We actually recommend the customers go through that first before they engage with either the HOMES or the HEAR program. It’s going to get them a better sense of the type of rebate that is available for them. So for the HOMES program, there is up to $10,000 available for a low-income home if they can reach 35% or more estimated energy savings. And then in the HEAR program There’s up to $8,000 for a heat pump, for instance, for low and moderate income customers.
Joe And for the question on the cost of the energy assessment, we were able to get our Commission to consider a budget for the cover or covering that cost for low-income customers. And that was approved. So up to a $500 cost is covered for qualified low- income customers. That’s also something that, it reduces the barrier to participation because there’s really very little costs to get started.
Amy This is, from my perspective, a complicated thing, because you’re asking people to get an energy assessment, which they may not know what that is, to get their income, go through an income process to find out how much they may be eligible for, and then understand there’s a modeling thing that happens to help them understand how much the could save even more. Is that creating some barriers? Because everything you’re talking about is really important and really cool, but couldn’t be more complicated, I feel like. Is it difficult to kind of get people on board with doing this?
Joe I mean, I think we should both answer this. The guidance that we were given from the Department of Energy was very complicated. And it was written in a way that prevented any misuse of these funds. And we had to build a program that met all the requirements. So at the start, that’s what we were working from. And we have, I’ve think, gotten through a lot of the challenges, made a lot of process improvements. And fortunately… If somebody calls in today, calls a registered contractor to get involved in this program, there’s a high likelihood that registered contractor has already gone through this process with other customers and they can help them kind of navigate the process through a much simpler experience. So customers getting involved today are in a much better spot is what I’m.
Joe Yeah, I’d echo a lot of what you said, Joe. I mean, there’s all of these requirements, you know, we are stewards of these federal dollars and need to make sure that we’re spending them appropriately. I think there’s ways we can do that as a program without necessarily all of the checks that DOE would like us to do. And so we’ve provided that feedback to them, as have other states that are, you know, actively running these programs. Yes, we try to make it as easy as we can, and I think it’ll continue to get better as we operate these programs, and provide that feedback to the Department of Energy.
Amy I think the HOMES program is the more complicated of the two we’re talking about because of that energy assessment and the modeling and the kind of whole home or whole apartment building approach. But the other one is the, I would say, more grabby program because it has to do with rebates. So how do the rebates work for this, it’s HEAR program, is that right?
Dylan Yeah, it’s the HEAR program. And so there are, let me make sure I can list off all the different things eligible. So we’ve got heat pumps for space heating and cooling. So that’s where you typically have an air conditioner in your home, you can actually install a heat pump and that both cools and heats the home. So it kind of offsets some of the heat that your furnace will be providing. We’ve got our heat pump water heaters. We’ve installation and air sealing that are eligible measures. We have got electrical upgrades. So this was a cool thing, not something that we’ve traditionally had with our focus on energy programs. If a customer needs an electric panel upgrade or some upgraded wiring to support some of the work that they would like done in this electrification program or for general health and safety too. If someone has knob and tube or they’ve got an unsafe maybe a recalled panel, I know those are out there. They’re also eligible to participate in this program just to get those safety concerns taken care of and to get them ready to Electrify their homes in the future And then we also have a few retail measures as well. These aren’t quite yet available, but they will be soon so everything I just mentioned does need to be installed by a contractor right now and The great part about this for the customer though is that all of these rebates and there’s Rebates kind of do vary all over the place from $1,000 up to $8,000. Those are all required to be an instant discount for the customer, so they don’t need to come up with the money out of pocket. The contractor’s gonna cover that and then we reimburse the contractor. And so the other retail measures that aren’t quite available yet is going to be our electric cooking equipment. So it’s typically like an induction range, an induction stove. And our heat pump dryers. And then heat pump water heaters would also be available at retail as well, but that’s kind of a dual can be installed by a contractor.
Amy I’m just gonna say I’ve never heard of a heat pump dryer. How, how new is that?
Dylan Oh gosh, they’ve been around for a few years, Joe?
Joe Yeah, a few years. And actually a lot of the manufacturers are combining them with washing capability. So it’s an all in one unit. Um, those will also qualify because they are Energy Star qualified. Next time you’re at a appliance, um, you know, retailer, you will see these as an option.
Amy That’s so cool. So I think that part of the program has been long awaited, where you could just walk into Best Buy or Menards and say, hey, I want this. But when you do that, are you going to have to prove an income eligibility right there in the store? Are they going to be able to pull up a thing?
Dylan Yeah, this kind of points back to some of the complexity of the programs that we have to deliver. So we do need to see a customer income qualified first, ideally. There’s a couple paths that we’re looking at. One would be an instant discount coupon that they could take to a store. Though, to peel the onion back a little bit, not every retailer is gonna be able to do that. In fact, it’s a fairly limited amount. Coupon system that is different than retailers are used to today. Usually they’re not checking to see if a customer has been income verified by a program before they allow a coupon to be used. So there’s a lot of complexity there. But in all other cases, we still have to have an income verified for a household. But if they don’t shop at the instant discount stores, they can submit for a rebate after they purchase the product. So there’s still the option to go and buy the product at a retail location. And then you would come back into our portal and say, I bought this. Here’s my invoice and the proof. And then we’ll go ahead and send you a check.
Amy So how much money has Wisconsin received to implement these two programs and to start, you know, helping folks all across the state get these rebates and get help paying for some of these upgrades to their homes?
Joe Yeah, the allocation for Wisconsin was approximately $75 million for each program. Um, the legislation was written to go until 2031. So, you know, we literally have until September of 2031 to expend these funds. Um, and so in total, yeah, we’ve got 150 million and the governor, uh, just recently helped us, uh celebrate our one year anniversary, uh in August. And we announced that we had expended $2 million in rebate dollars across 440 so odd projects, and that was from data back in July. And now, you know, we’re talking here with you today at the end of August and our numbers are even greater. So definitely a lot of projects happening and a lot of payments going out. And we’re pleased with the success so far, but we really do want to ramp it up and want to encourage folks to. Come into the Focus on Energy website, get qualified, and then call out to a registered contractor to get something scheduled. If folks are interested in upgrading their homes, this is a wonderful opportunity to get started. These funds are available right now, so come and get them.
Dylan Yeah, and I would just add one more point to that. Energy efficiency in itself, that’s always gonna be reducing our energy use, right? And so energy efficiency is just a fantastic economic driver. We are reducing the cost of energy for the homeowner. And then we’re also employing local labor. It’s intrinsically, right, the work being done, it has to be local. It’s not something that can be outsourced. It is Wisconsin jobs that we’re supporting. So. Energy efficiency is just a fantastic economic story.
Amy And I think kind of the, I don’t know, least glamorous part of all this is the insulation. So it’s the last thing that as a homeowner you want to care about is the thing that you can never see in your home. But that is both an energy and a money saver, right? If you are able to get some help from this program to add insulation to your home, what kind of a difference does that make for an older home that may be? You know, built in the 40s or 50s that hasn’t really had this upgrade before.
Dylan Yeah. So, uh, insulation is the one we always think of it first. And you’re right. It’s, it’s not, we can’t see it, right. It’s so it’s the sexy thing we talk about. We always talk about solar and smart thermostats and those are great too. But insulation does a ton of work for us and, um, insulation’s little brother that doesn’t get talked about as much as air sealing. Um, they really are a combination. So only wearing insulation and not having your house sealed up. So it’s really leaky is kind of like wearing a wool sweater on a really windy day. It’s right that you’re the the heat you’ve heated your home with your body heat, right? It’s just going to be swept away now if we put a Windbreaker on now, we’re keeping all of that heat inside. So we’re nice and toasty. And so in the older homes you’re talking about Oftentimes they’re very leaky buildings, too and so we have to combine the air sealing with the insulation and that’s standard practice right for everything that we do in these programs our energy assessors understand. We got to seal up the building and then you put the insulation on top.
Joe One other thing to add, we haven’t spoken much about it here, is the focus on energy incentives that are available, they stack on top of these home energy rebates as well. And one thing we’ve seen a lot of is projects coming through with insulation and that is ramping up participation in the core focus on energy program that is run, you know, year in, year out, those insulation measures are seeing much more participation and that’s really exciting news too.
Amy I feel like five or six years ago, most people had not heard of an induction stove. You saw me just now today hearing about a heat pump dryer, but those are going to be available in stores. So how much of an impact did this big, huge piece of legislation in the IRA have on kind of the way we see appliances and home heating and insulation and all that stuff?
Dylan I think on the appliance front, it really was the manufacturers that were engaging with the federal government and seeing all of this money that was going to be available that really drove them to invest and start getting these products ready for market. And so now we see, yeah, there’s a ton of induction stoves and there’s these heat pump dryers that are combo units that are awesome, the customers love. And so that’s been fantastic to see and really just continuing to shine the spotlight. There’s a ton of opportunity. In the state, we know there’s so many homes we still need to touch and to help out in the State. But this is money being brought in to support that and shining a light on it and saying, hey, let’s go and help some folks out.
Amy So if somebody’s listening to this and they’re like, you know what, I think I’m interested and maybe I’m eligible. What should I do? I guess the first step is to go to the Focus on Energy website.
Dylan That’s it, yep. There’s a get started button in the upper right of the website. You’re gonna wanna see what your income is and if you’re income eligible. So it’s always gonna be the first step. If you’re interested in HOMES or HEAR, there’s a really simple, I think we ask five things, your address, your household size, where you live and your income. I think there’s only four. Maybe there’s four things. And then right away we’ll spit back. You know, what our guess is. And if you think you are in the low or moderate income band and want to go through the official process, you can. If you’re above that, we’ll say, hey, by the way, we don’t think maybe you’re eligible for here. You can still participate in HOMES. There’s always focus on energy. We’re going to talk about that program as well. And if your do happen to be low income and low enough that you would qualify for energy assistance or the weatherization assistance program. Which is kind of a sister program here in Wisconsin that helps folks really weatherize their home when they’re particularly low income. We wanna make sure we’re sending people over there as well. And so we’re coordinating with that program to make sure they’re getting the help they need.
Amy So, when you look back at this past year, getting these two programs launched, then here we are like at a point where, yep, you’re trying to get the word out about this. I mean, I guess how great does it feel to be in Wisconsin where we were ready, we got ourselves together, got this funding, and now you have over $100 million to spend on families across the state.
Joe Really exciting. I think, you know, from the very beginning we didn’t waste a minute. We just really got at it with the planning. We engaged with stakeholders early. We had the benefit of the Focus on Energy platform to work with and, you, know, we worked closely with the utilities to make sure everything was going to work alongside, you ,know, the program. And we got all the pieces together as quick as we possibly could. It feels great to be in a spot where we are open for business, we are open for residents to come in and take advantage of these funds, to upgrade their homes, and every day I feel very thankful that we’re in the spot we’re in, because there’s many other states that are just sitting on the sidelines waiting for the Department of Energy to give them the go-ahead. And that may never come for all they know. Uh, so it feels great to be here, but we do need folks to be aware that these are open and that they don’t have to be afraid that, you know, the money’s going to be torn away, uh, or their project’s not going to get paid. Uh, we have checks and balances on our side to make sure that everything we’re doing is going to work and is, it is working. And we are making, uh rebate payments on a weekly basis. It feels great. I mean, get the word out, you know, it’s time to participate if you’re up for it.
Amy Well, I guess on Wisconsin. Thank you both for taking the time to explain all these programs to me. I really appreciate it.
Dylan Yeah, this was fun, thank you.
Joe Yeah, thank you.
Amy Again, the website for more information is FocusOnEnergy.com. There’s a box right on the homepage that says IRA Home Energy Rebates. Just click on that to get started. We’ve also got a link in the show notes, and while you’re looking at the show notes, I’ve also gotta link to Focus on Energy’s podcast called WATT’s Up Wisconsin. Thanks for listening to The Defender. If you have something you want me to talk about or comment about the show, just send me an email, podcastatcleanwisconsin.org. I’m Amy Barrilleaux. Talk to you later.
