Letter to The Honorable Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States - Help Americans Make Energy Efficient Homes

Letter

Dear President Biden,

We join you in celebrating the enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. With energy prices reaching alarmingly high levels, we write to urge swift release of the historic $3.5 billion investment included in this bill for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). Extending this funding to households in need will help bring needed relief to families, particularly during the winter months.

The Weatherization Assistance Program helps low-income families, seniors, and individuals with disabilities make lasting energy efficiency improvements to their homes. The reduced energy costs free up limited financial resources for essentials such as food and medicine. Throughout the history of the program, which has spanned more than four decades, WAP has helped more than 7.4 million low-income households reduce their energy bills. An independent study of WAP by Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that each dollar spent on weatherization produces $4.50 in benefits, including energy savings. Using WAP, single-family homes have saved an average of $283 annually on energy costs.

The $3.5 billion for WAP included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a historic level of investment in home energy efficiency that is particularly vital today. With prices surging worldwide for heating oil, natural gas, and other fuels, this additional money is critical in helping New Englanders keep energy costs down. The EIA's Winter Fuels Outlook reports households nationwide could see their heating bills jump as much as 54 percent over last winter. Without financial assistance through WAP, families will continue to live in leaky, inefficient homes, which will only raise their energy prices even more. Weatherizing homes is a one-time investment that can permanently lower a household's energy bills and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We urge your administration to prioritize releasing the funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program and look forward to working with you and the Department of Energy to get this money into the hands of local providers that can begin weatherizing homes as soon as possible. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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