Big News: Governor Malloy announced that he will be offering additional rebate incentives totaling $3 million for homeowners affected by Super Storm Sandy. Upgrade your heating equipment with newer, higher efficiency heating systems, and you can receive incentive dollars from the government.
“The governor announced Tuesday that the financial incentives would apply to residential and business purchases of boilers, furnaces, hot water heaters and refrigerators that would replace less energy-efficient models.”
Side note: Unless you have an oil or propane fired boiler.
Since Super Storm Sandy struck, we have been scrambling to get our customers heat. We have dozens of customers who need to replace their heating systems due to flood damage. Dozens. If there was help available, then I wanted to get the information for our customers, so I called the number. This is huge news. When I called the number (877-WISE-USE) the woman I spoke with told me that rebates were more than doubled in most cases for “qualifying systems” when homeowners provided proof that they suffered storm damage. Now, I understood from the news that the goal here was to install higher efficiency equipment, so I thought I understood what qualifying systems meant.
Much to my surprise, oil & propane Furnaces are listed, yet, not oil or propane boilers. Many homeowners don’t even understand the difference between the two. “Where is the information for oil boilers?” was the question I asked. I was told there was no rebate for those. “If it’s not listed, it doesn’t qualify.” It doesn’t qualify. “How can the governor justify this?” I asked.
“We are trying to move people away from oil and propane,” she said.
Really?
Let me get this straight, and I’m not even going to get into the natural gas vs. oil debate right now, nor am I going to get into the details of Governor Malloy’s draft Connecticut Energy Plan. We will save that for another day. Governor Malloy wants to move people away from oil and propane?
What about the 100s of thousands of people who heat with oil or propane where natural gas is not EVEN an option? Does the governor not understand that there are high efficiency boilers that are fueled by oil? Yes, up to 93% efficient. Why penalize these taxpaying homeowners because a gas line doesn’t run down their street? How can he use his own political agenda against the thousands of people who heat their homes with oil or propane? The goal of any energy plan should be conservation. Encourage all homeowners, regardless of fuel source to invest in a higher efficiency system. If there is money available to defray some of that costs, let’s put it to good use for all.
The money has been released to help homeowners. Let’s put all political agenda aside, and help these homeowners get back on their feet. Oil is safe, comfortable, plentiful, and a solid environmental choice for heat. Now is not the time to expand the gas infrastructure (at the expense of taxpayers). Now is the time to do what is right. Fair is fair. Help everyone affected by the storm get a break today.
Please, tell the governor this is not fair. This is discrimination.