Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 3, 1 March 2011 — Free solar program offered to homesteaders [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Free solar program offered to homesteaders

Participants save an average 30 percent on utility bills By ūiana Leone

Who doesn't like hot showers and saving money on the electric bill? If you're a qualified Department of a Hawaiian Home Lands resident, federal stimulus money could pay for the full cost of a new solar hot-water heater, a household supply of compact lluorescent light bulbs, and a home energy audit. "There are no strings attached. You don't owe anybody for anything after this," emphasizes Sonya Seng a Program Specialist with the State Department of T ,ahor's Offioe of Cnmmnnitv

Services, whieh is administering the grants. Participants in the Hale Maika'i program have reported utility bill savings of about 30 percent per month - in some cases as mueh as $120. The average front-end cost of the installations is about $6,500. "It's not likely that in the immediate future we'U see this kind of money again," says Seng. "We feel strongly that people should take advantage of it while we have it. This could help a whole bunch of families get over an eeonomie hump right now." The state agencies administering a $2.9 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant expect to help up to 400 Native Hawaiian families by the close of 201 1. From the program's start last summer until mid-February, more than 100 DHHL families have received the energy efficiency help. The program is being offered on all major islands through four community providers - and still has funds available. Applicants qualify if a total household

ineome is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines - whieh ranges from $42,120 for a household of three to $85,120 for a household of eight. Households with fewer than three residents don't qualify. Applicants must show proof of household ineome and also should be up-to-date on payments for leasehold rents, mortgages and homeowners' associations fees. Anahola, Kaua'i, resident Iwalani Martin says she was "very happy" with program and saw a huge reduction in her household's electric-

ity bill after installation. Gilbert and Melodee Pelletier of Papakōlea, O'ahu, saw a $120 a month savings in their electric bill. And they're especially thrilled with the energy audit portion of the program. The Pelletiers had their grandchildren who live with them study the energysaving recommendations of the program - such as turning off "phantom" electric loads - and put them into practice. Begun last June, the program is being administered by the State Department of Labor's Office of Community Services, whieh typically oversees wefltheri7fltion

programs for low-ineome residents. An additional $500,000 in stimulus funds is available to Hawaiian Home Lands residents through a separate Weatherization Assistance Program that ean provide replacement refrigerators, heat pump water heaters, smart strips, water-efficient shower heads and other energy-efficiency items. This grant is channeled through the State Department of Business, Eeonomie Development and Tourism. Hawaiian homelands residents who aren't sure if they qualify, should contact a provider for their island, says Lilia Kapuniai of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. Apparent blocks to qualifying, such as being behind on community association payments, may be removable with the savings from the program itself, she notes. And homesteaders whose household ineome is over the limit may benefit from energyefficiency loan programs that accomplish the same thing. They also ean find out about coming photovoltaic programs, says Kapuniai.

DHHL's Kamana'o Mills says the program fits right in with the department's five-point energy policy, whieh aspires to: restore Hawai'i's environment, explore and develop renewable energy resources, design and build energy-efficient homes, retrofit existing homes with green technology and promote education on green technologies. Four hundred retrofitted homes will save an estimated 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity and avoid creating about 917 tons of carbon dioxide, Mills says. ■ Veteran journaīist Diana Leone runs the jreeīance writing and editing business Leone Creative Communication on Kaua'i.

WHERE T0 CALL To apply forthe program, contactthe following providers: • On Maui — Maui Eeonomie 0pportunities at 243-4369. • On 0'ahu - Honolulu Community Action Program at 521-4531. • On Kaua'i and 0'ahu - Oouneil for Native Hawaiian Advancement at 596-8155. • On Hawai'i, Lāna'i and Moloka'i - Dowling Corp. at 270-0516.

Hawaiian homestead resident Iwalani Martin of Anahola, Kaua'i, holds her grandson Sammy Kauvaka in front of her family's new solar hot water system, paid for with federal stimulus funds. - Photo: Courtesy of the Council for flative Hawah ian Advancement

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