Do you feel the spark of electricity in the air? No, it is not the changing seasons I’m referencing. Rather, it is the work of Hope Church congregant, Peter Boogaart in his new role as the City of Holland’s first-ever residential energy adviser for the Home Energy Retrofit Program which launches October 1. The program ties together several core parts of our faith: caring for the least of those among us and caring for creation. Peter was featured in the recent Groundwork article “Holland Energy Plan Scores Its First Big Win” and said that “one of the wonderful things about our Plan is that it can take the energy economic burden off of people who need the most relief.”
To enable low income residents to take part in this program, the city created the Holland Energy Fund with $3 million set aside to help lower interest rates. Other funds are reserved to provide a 20 percent match for projects costing over $10,000. Any customer, including many most banks would ignore, can qualify simply by having a one-year perfect record on utility bills and no debt-related legal troubles. The terms are 4.9 to 5.9 percent for up to 15 years. The city has changed state law to facilitate on-bill financing of energy efficiency projects. This means that someone could improve the comfort of their home and lower their energy use and pay it back slowly over time on the same bill they already pay every month. Often the lower energy use means that the bill ends up being the same or lower than it was before.
Peter helps walk people through the entire process. “I’ll be there on behalf of homeowners to make it as streamlined as possible,” he promises. “One-stop shopping, financing, technical questions, especially when they get a full home energy evaluation. You can sit down with the city—that’s me—and learn what it all really means.”
Lastly, if you weren’t already excited about the new power plant, you are about to be! The plant isn’t completed and it’s already been awarded the prestigious Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s Envision Platinum Award, its top rating, which has gone to just 15 projects, and never to a power plant. The award was given due to the high attention given to sustainability during all facets of the project, such as removing 11.5 tons of asbestos, collecting 296 tires, crushing 12,600 tons of concrete and masonry material for onsite reuse, and steering 14,000 tons of material away from landfills. Moreover the natural gas powered plant will be more efficient than most, due to plans to use waste heat to melt snow on miles of sidewalks and streets and also to heat buildings.
So the next time you feel a spark in the air, appreciate the passing wonder of summer turning into fall, but also take a moment to reflect on how much progress Holland is making toward its Community Energy Plan goal of reducing gas and electric use by 50% by 2050. With all of us reducing energy use as best we can and with help from community leaders like Peter, that distant dream is one step closer to becoming reality.
~Joe Arevalo, Caring for Creation Coordinator