Putney Clean Energy Program

The Putney Clean Energy program window was from Sept 2011 to March 2012.

During that time Putney provided  ~$54,000 worth of matching incentives for weatherization projects that Putney residents undertook.

The Putney ACE weatherization program was very successful. We surpassed our target of 25 households (weatherizing 30 homes) during the winter of 2011 -2012 with a total yearly energy savings estimate of $32,839.00*. We matched Efficiency Vermont’s incentives in the amount of $53,638.51.

Over 30 households participated in the program and many have called and emailed to thank us for this program exclaiming how much warmer and more comfortable their home is.

We believe that the success of the program is due to several factors. The time limited offer of matching the Efficiency Vermont incentives was attractive for many**. This substantial financial incentive, coupled with the fact that energy costs are not going down – rather fuel and gas (and to a lesser extent, wood) is going up far too quickly for Vermonters – made this a very sound decision for many homeowners. I also believe that working with the weatherization companies to popularize this program was helpful in making the program successful.

We hope to work on phase 2 of the ACE program in the summer (2013 or 201414). In the next phase we hope to fund Solar Hot Water and residential Solar Electric systems where appropriate sites are available for homeowners and business. Clearly the extra incentive was the push that people needed to participate in home improvements that save energy.

* This number will go up every year as fuel costs rise, saving additional money.
**While 11 people (out of 42) did drop out of the program because of the time constraints or other reasons, we still consider that having a time limit is good motivation for these kinds of programs.