Lawmakers in Richmond are reviewing a bill that would help Virginians cut their energy costs, but critics say it could make power more expensive for customers.
Susan Hill works with people who have drafty homes and high utility bills.
She's in charge of the Richmond Region Energy Alliance, a nonprofit that helps families figure out how to reduce their monthly utility bill.
While the end result is savings, it does require some money down.
"Maybe you start with an attic improvement, that's $1,500 to 2,000 dollars,” Hill says. "Maybe you seal your duct work that's leaking and that costs maybe about $1,000. A crawl space improvement can range from $1,000 to 3,000."
You can see how the costs add up, so a lot of the families Hill works with are higher income. Then, there are federal grants available to help those who are low income.
"But what ends up happening is that we miss a lot of people who do not qualify for the income restricted funding, but then make too little to invest in an energy upgrade, so they're really the population that we would like to serve,” says Hill.
In the past, they've been able to help that middle-income bracket with rebates and low-interest loans supported by the federal government, but that program expired in 2013.
Now, the Virginia General Assembly would provide up to $75 million a year to help families cut their energy costs through home improvements.
Dawone Robinson is the Virginia policy director for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. He says the money will also help renters, who are often in the worst situations.
"A lot of times what we see is that landlords don't provide these sort of upgrades to the rental homes because they know their tenant is going to pay for the electricity cost,” says Robinson.
But the money for this program would come from a new fee imposed on power plants that burn coal and other fossil fuels. Virginia’s largest utility, Dominion, says that cost may be passed along to consumers in the form of higher rates.
Republican Delegate Ron Villanueva and Democrat Don McEachin are sponsoring the bill. A similar measure offered last year was not approved.
