Thanks for letting me in
Over the past year I’ve spoken with couples who heat their home entirely with wood, splitting it every fall, increasingly concerned about how they would fare if an injury or sickness precluded them from doing so. I’ve supported a grandmother trying to access resources for her widowed daughter-in-law raising three kids alone on a tight budget. An elderly woman who paid for a furnace that, it turned out, didn't even qualify for the rebate she was counting on.
Stepping into the role of Regional Energy Coach, I expected spending my days educating residents, building partnerships, and streamlining programs. And I have. But naively, I wasn’t expecting to be welcomed into people’s lives the way I have. Homes are an intimate place and many of you have trusted me to stand with you as you grapple with how to best provide a comfortable, affordable, and safe haven for your family. Thank you for that.
I’ve had the pleasure of coaching over 150 households and businesses in the last year, leading to over 100 energy assessments, dozens of efficiency and electrification upgrades, and at least $200,000 of rebate dollars that will be flowing into our community.
These are neighbors who can now spend more money on groceries and less on utility bills, seniors who can cool their homes in the increasingly hot summers, and asthmatic children whose parents no longer have to choose between keeping the house sealed up and hot or opening the windows to invite cooler, but smoky air in.
And households are just the start - this energy transition isn’t just helping all of us to enjoy safer and more comfortable homes, it’s creating jobs that allow students to grow their careers and afford to build their own lives here, diversifying income streams so farmers and ranchers can afford to keep their land productive (agrivoltaics!), and decentralizing and expanding the energy economy with new and growing technologies that even rural communities like ours can embrace and benefit from.
The new energy economy is reshaping how we think about home energy - resiliency, health, and safety. But it's also reshaping how we think about our region's economy: how this transition can vitalize rural communities like ours, in a way that lifts everyone up.
A deep thank you to this passionate and loyal community. It’s been such a joy to meet so many readers of the column this past year, to connect with and learn from you. If you’ve been wondering about something or have questions please reach out to me at erika@fourcore.org. I’m always looking for new topics to cover and would love to hear your ideas. Or hold your hand as you take on a home energy project.
You can also join me and folks from LPEA at our next Office Hours: Rebate and Energy Help Session on October 7th, 8-9:30 and 11:30-1:30 at LPEA Headquarters.
