Justice Announces Initiative to Create Jobs and Cut Millions In Utility Costs

Press Release

Yesterday, businessman Jim Justice visited Bridgeport High School in Harrison County and announced his plan to retrofit West Virginia's older schools, public buildings, and commercial properties. In Harrison County alone, 19 school facilities have been upgraded and are already seeing lower energy bills.

By making older structures more energy efficient, Justice wants to cut costs and put people to work. His initiative is budget-neutral and aims to lower utility costs by retrofitting public schools, hospitals, college campuses, airports, libraries, state agencies, and other old buildings across West Virginia.

Jim Justice will work toward the goal of $200 million in energy savings projects over the next 4 years, the anticipated utility cost reduction will be $260-$300 million over the next 20 years. This could generate roughly 1,000 West Virginia jobs (NAESCO.org).

Justice will encourage banks to make it easier to finance legitimate energy saving programs to reach the goal of $200 million by 2021. Retrofitting buildings will rein in energy waste, and improve indoor air quality with updated ventilation systems.

"At The Greenbrier we've cut costs and put people to work by investing in energy efficiencies," said businessman Jim Justice. "I want to retrofit buildings across the state so that we can cut utility bills and create new jobs."

JIM'S RETROFIT INITIATIVE

Cut Utility Costs And Save Money Long Term. Jim Justice wants to identify $200 million in energy savings across West Virginia. In 2010, $70 million was spent in West Virginia on utilities for K-12 public schools. Many places of public benefit can see a 25% to 30% cost reduction after a retrofit project is complete.

Put Skilled West Virginians Back To Work. At The Greenbrier, Jim Justice put people to work by identifying opportunities to make the resort more energy efficient, and he'll do the same as governor. Retrofitting public buildings across the state has the potential to create about 1,000 jobs. West Virginia has plenty of buildings that could be made more energy efficient and the skilled workers to do it.
Promote Easier Financing For Energy Saving Programs. As governor, Jim will work to encourage more aggressive lending for retrofitting projects.
Upgrade Older Buildings. As governor, Jim Justice wants to establish a plan with experts to identify public structures that could benefit from a retrofit project to cut utility bills by 30 percent. These structures include public schools, college campuses, libraries, hospitals, airports, and other community spaces. To manage energy costs, facilities can increase energy efficiency by updating lighting, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and their control systems, replacing windows, and improving insulation.

Improving The Learning and Working Environment. Studies have shown that retrofitting buildings leads to fewer workers getting sick on the job due to poor air circulation. For schools, in addition to providing a more comfortable learning environment for children, research has shown that with more natural lighting and better indoor air quality, academic performance increases and there are fewer absences by teachers and students.

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