BARRE, Vt. -- The Weatherization Assistance Program, which is just part of the influx of federal dollars for energy programs, will spend $16.8 million to weatherize 1,612 homes of lower-income Vermonters. 

That’s just part of the more than $139 million in federal stimulus funds distributed to Vermont, as of April, for a variety of job-creating energy programs.

So far, the Central Vermont Community Action Council has spent 83 percent of its $2.6 million grant retrofitting homes in central Vermont. When they are finished, they will have dramatically improved the efficiency of 312 homes. The federal funding has prevented laying off 19 full-time positions on crews that work on homes, said Liz Schlegel, the action council’s community outreach director. (Note: The figures include the cost of the programs as well as the payroll costs.) The state has cut funding for the program making the federal funding crucial.

The money saved through weatherization is just part of the savings of the program.

Jacques Trepanier, 55, of Barre owns one of the 1,612 homes being updated. He may use the estimated $400 fuel savings each year to invest into his woodworking business, potentially creating jobs, or sock some money away for retirement.  “This will be a tremendous help. In the wintertime, my pipes freeze,” said Trepanier, who lives in a one-bedroom mobile home.

Two crews were parked outside his mobile home last week, starting the two-day process to retrofit his home with thousands of dollars of money-saving upgrades.  Thanks to the stimulus program, Trepanier will not have to cover any of the cost of the upgrades.  The demand for work also creates jobs for people being trained to weatherized homes.

The federal stimulus also funded the State Energy Program with $22 million, aided Vermont- based manufacturing operation with $8.5 million grant to help build technology for electric vehicles, and gave Vermont $69 million for “smart grid” technology that will allow Vermont to be a leader of energy efficiency and for the nation. The electric utilities are matching that amount so the investment will be $138 million.

Millions more in energy efficiency block grants are coming to Vermont.

Senator Sanders fought to include $3.2 billion from the stimulus for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants program, which was authorized by a Sanders provision in the 2007 energy bill. The funding provides money directly to municipalities, counties and states for use in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

Vermont received $11.9 million, which will fund more than 150 projects statewide. A competitive grant program delivered another $4.5 million to Neighborworks of Western Vermont in West Rutland to retrofit homes across Rutland County– a program which has the potential to create hundreds of jobs. 

“The bulk are just now beginning,” said Andrew Perchlik, the manager of the Clean Energy Development Fund, said of projects that have been awarded funds through State Energy Program and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. “There definitely will be jobs created.”

To read more about the stimulus program's impact in Vermont, click here.