20161115AVU to Staff 26 Attachment A - 2017 Benefit Letters IBES.pdf

1pt/Con Ed
April 30, 2014
Dear Rick,
Thank you for applying for Weatherization services. I’m happy to serve you!
Because the agency has such a large service area—from Riggins to the Canadian border—and there is only one of
me, my supervisor and I decided to try expanding our Weatherization services to include an analysis of each
applicant’s residential energy use. That way, everyone who applies for Weatherization receives this service and I’m
able to serve everyone in our applicant pool, rather than only those homes I am able to visit in person.
The first part of the residential energy analysis includes a review of the prior 12 months’ energy use included with
your application. I notice your household’s energy use pattern is typical throughout the area—lowest use in the
summer, increased use when the heating system is in use—with moderate base use.
The second part of the residential energy analysis is the calculation of the household’s energy burden. I use the
income and energy use information you provided with your Weatherization application to make this calculation. The
Weatherization program keeps a lookout for households whose energy burden is more than 15 percent. Your
household energy burden is about 9 percent. Another way to look at it is: of every $100 household income, your
household spends about $9 on electricity.
The third part of the residential energy analysis is to score a household’s energy use, using the Energy Star® Home
Energy Yardstick (enclosed). To do this, I estimated the square footage of your home to be 784 sq ft and then
entered your household energy use in kilowatt hours (kWh) from August 2012 to July 2013 in an online calculator at
www.energystar.gov. The highest score a household can receive is 10, and yours received a 1.2.
As a general rule, about 20 percent of household energy consumption is a result of the preferences and habits of the
people who live in the home. Those are things we can change at little to no cost and still have the same level of
comfort and convenience. If we look only your household’s base electric use, there is a good chance that could be
reduced by about 196 kWh per month, for a savings of approximately $200 per year at current electric rates.
Because you are interested in energy conservation, I have included print material to give you some ideas about
where to begin and what to look for, to help you reduce your home’s energy use before you receive Weatherization
services.
If I can be of further assistance to you, please feel welcome to call me 9 am to 3:30 pm, Monday through Friday at
1-800-326-4843. Ask for Maria, and they’ll put you through to my desk—I’m the only Maria who works here!
Sincerely,

Maria Lacey Community Education Specialist
Staff_PR_26 Attachment A Page 1 of 1