Delaware tops nation with weatherization program

Lt. Gov. Matthew Denn, who has been asked by Gov. Jack Markell to oversee implementation of the federal stimulus program at the state level, recently announced Delaware had implemented the federal government’s stimulus-funded, low-income, home weatherization program faster than any other state in America. Delaware’s ranking was contained in a report by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The inspector deneral prepared a report in late February that indicated states had weatherized only 5.17 percent of the homes for which American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds were provided, even though one third of the life of the program had expired. Delaware, by contrast, had weatherized 34 percent of the homes for which it had received funds - almost seven times the national average and first among the states.

The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services oversees the low-income home weatherization program. The day-to-day operations of the program are run by two nonprofit organizations: Neighborhood House and First State Community Action Agency. The state authorized four entities to train new workers for the weatherization work, and the bulk of the training has been conducted by Del Tech and the Laborers Union.

The state’s stimulus-funded low-income weatherization program supported 75 jobs in the last quarter of 2009. “In the context of the number of Delawareans who are unemployed, 75 jobs may not seem like a lot,” Denn said, “but those are 75 Delawareans who wouldn’t be working right now if this program hadn’t been implemented so efficiently.”