A thermal camera is used to determine how much heat is escaping from a home. The Lewis County Public Utilities District was awarded a grant from the TransAlta Weatherization Board to help supplement some of their energy efficiency programs available to PUD customers.
The Centralia Coal Transition Grants Weatherization Board has approved a grant in the amount of $1,684,500 to the Lewis County Public Utility District to supplement the energy-efficient programs available to the entity’s customers.
The grant is the fourth one to be awarded by the weatherization board, one of three boards tasked with allocating $55 million over 10 years to ease the impacts as TransAlta shifts away from coal. The money was donated by TransAlta.
Chris Roden, manager of power planning and business services for the PUD, said the grant will come in two disbursements. The first is in the amount of $842,250. The second half of the money is contingent on the PUD’s performance in utilizing the funds to supplement its programs.
The lion’s share of the money will go toward the installation of ductless heat pumps within the PUD’s service territory, Roden said.
Roden said the PUD plans to do 700 installations over the life of the grant, something that would benefit local contractors who do the work.
Some of the money will also go toward school improvements, like HVAC, lighting and window upgrades.
“The benefits to having this investment in our schools is going to pay dividends and hopefully result in more comfortable students and lower energy costs for the schools,” Roden said.
It will also be spent to supplement existing or pending programs to upgrade windows, insulation, lighting, lighting controls and other custom projects offered to PUD customers.
“The grant dollars will leverage the opportunities the district has to offer to improve energy efficiency and weatherization and directly make a positive impact to their customers, whether it be a customer household, school or local business,” Shane Bluhm, weatherization board member, said in a press release. “One of the goals of the board is to support projects that provide cost effective weatherization solutions that demonstrate an energy cost savings for those living and working in the local community. The plan outlined in the district application meets that goal.”
The Lewis County PUD is a municipal corporation of the state of Washington, formed by the people of Lewis County to provide electric services. The PUD's energy services department offers customers a variety of residential, commercial and industrial conservation programs, including a free energy audit.
Roden said one of PUD’s missions is to provide the maximum value to its customers for the services it provides.
“Thanks to the partnership with the weatherization board, we are going to provide warmer homes in the winter, cooler homes in the summer and a cost savings year round,” Roden said. “... It’s a significant amount of money for the weatherization board and we really worked pretty diligently to make sure that what we are doing matches what they are trying to achieve through the grant program.”
Roden said the partnership will create local jobs, allow for investments in schools and help maximize the value and comfort from the energy distributed to customers.
The weatherization board has so far awarded four grants, including this one. Past grants were awarded to Reliable Enterprises, the Fox Theatre in Centralia and the Community Action Council of Lewis, Mason and Thurston Counties. In all, the board has $10 million to award.
The two other boards are the economic and community development board and the energy technology board. The boards have a budget of $20 million and $25 million, respectively.
Annual payments for the funding boards have been made for the past four years with the last payment due in Dec. 31, 2023. The opportunity to start using the money for projects became available in Dec. 31, 2015.
