The Addison County Climate Economy Action Center’s Energy Navigators program has lots of useful energy-saving information on its website. Here is the important information it contains.

Paying for weatherization, electrification, and new appliances is an obstacle for many. While energy savings over time can cover a significant portion of the upfront costs, what are the options for paying for these projects? Luckily, there are federal and state incentives available to all income levels including tax credits, rebates, on-bill financing, and low interest loans. If you find this all overwhelming and bewildering, you aren’t alone. Everyone agrees it is too complicated — we’re here to help!

Big Ideas:

• Start with an energy audit and use the audit to create a plan to reduce your energy costs.
• See what rebates, tax credits and/or free programs are available for your income.
• Refine plan to take advantage of available resources. This could mean grouping work to take advantage of loan programs, or spreading work out over a number of years to maximize tax credits.
• Decide how much work to do and arrange financing if needed.
• Arrange work with Efficiency Vermont’s Efficiency Excellence Network (EEN) contractors if you plan to take advantage of rebate and/or loan programs.

A few Addison County energy cost facts:

• The median annual spending on energy costs across the county is about $7,400 (about 9.8% of a median household’s budget), including $1,583 for electricity, $2,415 for home fuels, and $3,400 for transportation fuels. Annual energy spending is pretty consistent across Addison County towns, despite a variety of median incomes. Percent of income spent on energy varies town to town from 6.7% to 14.3%.
• While electricity costs through Green Mountain Power are pretty stable and rising only slowly, delivered fuel and gas costs have jumped around wildly in the past 10 years, creating budget uncertainty. The cost of piped gas (only available in Middlebury and Vergennes) is more consistent, but still has significant greenhouse gas emissions.
• Electrifying heating systems with heat pumps typically saves money on heating costs compared to oil and propane. Winter electricity bills will increase, while oil or propane bills will decrease.
• Weatherization/energy retrofit work (particularly air-sealing and providing consistent insulation) can save 10% to 50% of heating/cooling costs, depending on the extent of the work.
• Heat pump water heaters have one of the best returns on investment, and are currently eligible for large Efficiency Vermont rebates (income dependent), and save an average of 1 ton of carbon per year.

Financial resources available:

Efficiency Vermont and power company (GMP, VGS) rebates:

• For weatherization and efficient electric equipment and appliances.
• Bonuses are available for low/moderate income (under 120% of median income).
• Efficiency Excellence Network contractors required.

Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP):

• Free weatherization available if income qualified.
• Available through community service agencies like the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO).

Federal 25C Tax Credits (smaller tax credits for equipment):

• Up to $2,000 available each year.
• May make sense to phase projects to take advantage of this over a number of years.

Federal 25D Tax Credits (for renewable energy projects):

• Tax credit of 30% of project cost, no limit.
• Covers solar and battery systems, and ground source heat pump systems.
• Credit can be carried over to reduce taxes in future years.

Federal Rebates from Inflation Reduction Act: (these are not yet available — expected by early 2025)

• Income qualified, supports equipment electrification and some weatherization.
• Up to $14,000 per household, covers up to 50% or 100% of cost depending on income.

Weatherization Repayment Assistance Program (WRAP): on bill financing (through GMP or VGS):

• Can cover remaining costs of weatherization and electrification after rebates and tax credits.
• 2% loan rate, up to 15-year term, carries with home if sold.
• Limited contractors for this program — Efficiency Excellence Network contractors required.

Home Energy Loans ($20,000 max.):

• 0%-7% loan rates available depending on income and term length (between 5 and 15 yrs).
• Efficiency Excellence Network contractors required.

See CEAC’s guide to options, organized by household income and home type, in the deep dive section. Head online to energynavigators.org/actions/3481.

Other useful explainers and tools

Loan info online:

• efficiencyvermont.com/services/financing/homes/home-energy-loan
• Efficiency Vermont Guide to Financing Clean Energy Projects at tinyurl.com/EfficiencyVtCleanFinancing

General info:

• Efficiency Vermont Clean Energy Incentives Calculator at tinyurl.com/EnergyIncentivesCalculator
• One Page Summary at tinyurl.com/EnergyFinanceOnePager