CPS Energy’s weatherization assistance program reaches milestone of 10,000 homes
CPS Energy, District 7 Councilman Cris Medina, and Casa Verde participants celebrated a major milestone—weatherizing 10,000 homes. This accomplishment has resulted in an estimated cumulative bill savings of $5.7 million and 11 megawatts of energy.
“To see millions of dollars in savings shows the tremendous value of the Casa Verde program to our community,” said Councilman Medina. “Creating energy efficient homes has a multiplier effect. It lowers bills for families; they can then turn around and use that money for other needs, resulting in an economic benefit; and, that ripple continues as businesses then create jobs, and buy more goods and services.”
“It’s rewarding to know that we provided 10,000 families with free energy efficiency upgrades that they would likely never be able to afford on their own,” said Vice President of Community Engagement Maria Garcia. “They can count on us to help them reduce energy bills, and we can count on them to help us delay building another power plant, which benefits every single CPS Energy customer.”
This year, the goal is to weatherize nearly 4,000 more homes. The program is available to all qualifying CPS Energy customers who live in Atascosa, Bexar, Bandera, Comal, Kendall, Medina and Wilson counties.
Customers are expected to save an average of $350 annually in energy costs. Several thousand dollars worth of improvements are completed to help the homes retain heat in the winter and stay cool in the summer. Upgrades include attic and wall insulation, weather stripping, caulking, compact fluorescent lights, solar screens, and more.
“Since moving into my home in 2010, I have made improvements to increase its energy efficiency and I saw some small gains. Then my neighbor told me about Casa Verde, and I quickly applied. With the upgrades and using CPS Energy’s Cool Energy kit for my window units, I think my bills will go down even further this summer,” said Diane Rodriguez.
Last week, contractors made the standard upgrades to Rodriguez’s home in less than a day. Hers is the third on the block to be weatherized recently after word spread about the program in a neighborhood near St. Mary’s University where the homes were built in the 1940s.
Community Engagement hosts events in similar neighborhoods, taking applications onsite and scheduling same-day preliminary home inspections for qualifying customers in the immediate area. The next event will be held on Saturday, Feb. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Krueger Middle School, 438 Lanark Drive. Casa Verde applications also are taken at each of CPS Energy’s four customer service centers.
Casa Verde is part of the Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan (STEP), which aims to reduce Greater San Antonio’s demand for electricity by 771 megawatts (MW) – the output of a large power plant – by 2020. The five-year program began in 2009, funded through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus. It became part of STEP when the federal program ended in 2012.
