Georgia agency submits weatherizing wish list to feds

Some low-income Georgians may have more energy-efficient homes by the time winter weather hits again, with the help of stimulus funds.

The Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority gave its list of energy and weatherization projects to the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday, a necessary step so it can receive $207 million in stimulus money to help with those plans.

The projects are subject to DOE approval, which GEFA said likely won’t be until July. The agency doesn’t expect to receive stimulus money for those projects until that time, either.

GEFA is slated to get $82.5 million for statewide renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects as part of its State Energy Program. The projects include $65 million to make state government buildings more energy-efficient and $4.5 million to support the installation of solar panels or other renewable-energy technologies.

The agency, which helps finance water and energy projects in the state, is also scheduled to get $124.8 million to weatherize low-income homes.

Weatherization, the primary energy-conservation program for low-income residents, is free for income-eligible households. The program helps reduce the amount of fuel used to heat homes by 23 percent, said GEFA, using national figures.

Congress signed off on a $787 billion package of money to designed to boost the nation’s economy. The bulk of the dollars are to go toward job growth as well as transportation, health care and energy projects.

It is unclear at this point how many jobs the millions of dollars flowing to Georgia will create. However, national figures show that for every $1,000 spent on state-energy programs, 10 million British-thermal units — used to measure gas — are saved.

GEFA will use some of the stimulus money to award grants to state agencies, local governments and private or nonprofit groups that want to work on energy-efficient projects. The grants will be given based on a competitive bid process — after the federal government signs off on GEFA’s plans.