A new federal grant will help Rutland County residents make their homes more energy efficient. The $4.5 million project also will create hundreds of new jobs. Vermont Public Radio reported Tuesday that the grant is part of a nationwide energy efficiency block grant program created by Senator Bernie Sanders. Ludi Biddle, the director of NeighborWorks of Western Vermont, told VPR that her goal is to distribute information about energy efficiency programs to 40 percent of all homes in the county. "NeighborWorks applied for this money with the idea of giving a big benefit to Rutland County, making us the first, the best, the most at energy efficiency. Because we were going to concentrate a big effort on getting a large number of households with energy efficient retrofits immediately. Biddle says that the money homeowners save from using less energy often will exceed the cost of a loan to retrofit the house.

To listen to the VPR report, click here.