Perriello Cosponsors Legislation To Create Rural Energy Savings Program

Press Release

Rep. Tom Perriello is an original cosponsor of a bipartisan bill to establish a Rural Energy Savings Program to create jobs, save Virginia families and businesses money on their electric bills, and conserve energy. He joined a bipartisan coalition of Senate and House Members along with rural electric cooperatives and energy industry leaders in introducing the legislation yesterday. The bill, H.R. 4785, is estimated to create 20,000 to 40,000 jobs a year.

The bill provides $4.9 billion in loan authority through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to electric cooperatives to offer low-interest micro-loans to residential and small business customers for energy-saving retrofit and structural improvements. The program will be a boon for the domestic manufacturing and construction industries, as energy-efficiency products are almost exclusively manufactured in the United States and installation jobs cannot be exported. The program builds on the existing co-op infrastructure that has strong community ties and a demonstrated 75-year history of on-bill financing for consumer loans.

"Rural households are getting hit the hardest with rising energy costs. These efficiency programs will not only create jobs locally, but make our rural homes more sustainable and cost efficient in the long run. I'm proud to be part of this bipartisan bill because saving on energy costs and creating clean energy jobs is something both parties can agree on," said Rep. Perriello.

Trained auditors and contractors will conduct energy audits to determine what sorts of energy efficiency improvements are warranted. Typical consumer loans will be $1,500 to $7,000, and will cover sealing, insulation, heat pumps, HVAC systems, boilers, roofs and other improvements that the utility has demonstrated to RUS will produce sufficient savings. Participating consumers repay the co-ops for the installation and material costs through an extra charge on their utility bills within not more than a 10 year window. The energy savings from the upgrade will cover most, if not all, of the cost of the loan. Consumers will save more on their energy bills after the loan is repaid, saving most families hundreds of dollars annually. Every dollar loaned by RUS to the co-ops is repaid to the taxpayers within ten years after the cooperative re-lends the funds to the consumer.

Rep. Perriello co-sponsored the legislation along with Congressmen James Clyburn (D-SC), Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and John Spratt (D-SC) and Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tim Johnson (D-SD), and Michael Bennett (D-CO).

Click here for the text of the bill.

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