The Energy Crisis Creates Green Jobs

The Energy Crisis Creates Green Jobs

On September 12 in lower Manhattan the Center for Working Families (CWF) conducted a two hour policy briefing entitled Green Jobs/Green Homes. At the briefing, speakers from a variety of agencies presented to a crowd of over 100 of elected officials and their staffs a proposal to create jobs by greening the homes of New York City. Emmaia Gelman, senior policy organizer for the CWF stated that retrofitting a single family house in New York could cost approximately $3,000 and yield annual energy savings of $750. Thus the cost of the retrofit could be paid back in 5 years.

It is this reality that drives the CWF proposal to retrofit 1,000,000 homes and create 30,000 green jobs in five years. CWF is a policy institute created in 2006 by a consortium of local unions and non-profit activists to provide elected officials with broad-based and innovative proposals addressing important local issues. To achieve its green job goal CWF proposes using the resources of various New York State agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency (NYSERDA), NYS Dept. of Labor, NYS Power Authority, NYS Dormitory Authority, Long Island Power Authority and other agencies.

Under the CWF proposal, a New York state retrofit program would relieve home owners of the
up-front cost by creating an investment pool to fund retrofits. The savings on the retrofits would be used to repay the investment fund for the costs of the work. Key components of the proposal include:

• NYS utilities Con Ed and National Grid would collect the monies to repay the fund as part of their monthly utility bills to home owners, relieving the investment fund of billing and collection obligations. It is well-known that utility bills are among the first bills home owners pay each month and that utilities experience very low default rates.

• All retrofits would be conducted by NYSERDA trained and approved energy contractors, guaranteeing a high quality of workmanship and ensuring that the energy savings would occur.

• Labor union tradesmen would work with contractors in the field to ensure that workers were properly trained and the work properly performed.

• Savings would be under-estimated to ensure that repayment monies were available. For
  example, if a home owner’s utility bills were $300 per month before the retrofit, he would only be asked for pay $290 per month after the retrofit. Part of this monthly payment would cover the cost of gas and electric charges and part would repay the retrofit loan.

Around Thanksgiving the CFW plans to issue a White Paper that will provide more details about how the proposed plan would work. Ms. Gelman hopes that when the State legislature reconvenes in January, this White Paper will form the basis of enabling legislation to make this proposal a reality.

Be sure to tell your elected officials to support this exciting project.
NYS Assemblyman Karim Camara - 718-756-1776. central Crown Heights
NYS Assemblywoman Annette Robinson - 718-399-7630 East Crown Heights
NYS Assemblyman Hakim Jeffries - 718-596-0100 west Crown Heights
NYS Senator Eric Adams - (718) 284-4700.

Give them a call today!