October 30, 2017
KY POWER ALSO PROVIDES WEATHERIZATION
THOUSANDSTICKS, Ky. – With a new baby and four other children at home, Henry and Karen Johnson were not sure what they were going to do for heat this winter without a functioning heat source. On Monday, National Weatherization Day, they were getting a new heat pump installed through Kentucky Power’s Targeted Energy Efficiency Program and Leslie, Knott, Letcher, Perry (LKLP) Community Action Council.
“This is a blessing to me,” said Henry Johnson of Thousandsticks in Leslie County. “My heat pump wasn’t working except on emergency heat and I’m unemployed. I heard about this program and I’m blessed that they came out. They’re putting in a new heat pump, LED lights, fixing the ductwork and caulking. I’m blessed.”
The heat pump along with many other weatherization and energy saving measures being made this week to the Johnson home are being provided through Kentucky Power’s Targeted Energy Efficiency Program.
“Kentucky Power provides supplemental funding of up to $1,600 per heat pump as well as other energy saving measures for the program through the Kentucky Community Action Network of not-for-profit agencies and the Kentucky Housing Corporation’s Weatherization Assistance Program,” said E.J. Clayton, Kentucky Power’s energy efficiency and consumer programs manager. “The services help low-income residential customers reduce their energy bills and improve their home’s safety and comfort.”
The agency serving the Johnsons, LKLP Community Action Council, provides low-income services in Leslie, Knott, Letcher and Perry counties. Other agencies that serve many Kentucky Power customers are the Big Sandy Area Community Action Program and the Northeast Kentucky Community Action Agency. Some customers also get help from Gateway Community Action Agency and Middle Kentucky Community Action Partnership.
In 2016, Kentucky Power provided about $275,000 to community action agencies for weatherization and energy efficiency services to 89 low-income customers who met agency income guidelines for assistance. The program also funded 55 new high efficiency heat pumps for low-income customers, according to Kentucky Power records.
Kentucky Power customers Nephi and Orlena Lazarus near Hazard in Bulan also were among those customers who have benefited from the program and weatherization.
“We signed up for commodity assistance in the spring through LKLP,” said Orlena Lazarus. “They asked us if there was anything else they could help us with, and we told them that we needed our roof fixed. We were put on the weatherization list in late spring, and they started working on the house in early August.”
Customers like the Johnson and Lazarus families who need assistance are placed on a list with their local community action agency to receive funding through the Weatherization Assistance Program. The list is prioritized by need based on household income and the number of occupants in the home. The list is updated every three months.
Both homes received extensive efficiency upgrades, including air leakage sealing, attic and floor insulation, hot water tank insulation, new LED bulbs, and the installation of a new high efficiency heat pump.
“The work was excellent,” Orlena Lazarus said. “All the work that was done amazed us. We’ve never had anybody treat us like that before.”
The 1,456 square feet of attic and floor insulation combined with the new high efficiency heat pump and air leakage sealing should make their home more comfortable, easier to heat and cool, and hopefully make their energy bills more manageable.
“We have already noticed a difference,” Nephie Lazarus said. “The house is much easier to cool and stays cool for the longest time.”
Fall is the perfect time to get a weatherization assessment of your home. The assessment checks for air leaks, gaps, and ways to potentially increase the efficiency of your home before the harsh winter months.
“We can’t say enough good things about the work that was done by LKLP and Kentucky Power,” Nephie Lazarus said. “For the first time in years we’re not dreading the winter months and the high energy bills that usually come with it.”
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Kentucky Power, based in Ashland, is an operating company of American Electric Power. Kentucky Power serves about 168,000 customers in 20 eastern Kentucky counties, including Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Clay, Elliott, Floyd, Greenup, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Magoffin, Martin, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike and Rowan. AEP is one of the largest electric utilities in the U.S., efficiently delivering safe, reliable electricity and custom energy solutions to nearly 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states.