In praise of the High Country Energy Contest’s community and business partners

The Energy Savings for Appalachia team would like to thank our community and business partners for making the High Country Home Energy Makeover Contest possible.

Without their dedication and service, we would not have been able to offer three households the extensive energy efficiency home improvements that we have in the past month.

Business partnerships have played a pivotal role throughout the contest process. As energy efficiency contractors, these individuals and their businesses were a natural fit for the home retrofits we hoped to offer contest winners. Their services range from spray foam insulation to energy audits to HVAC system repair. Of course, such services can come with a mighty price tag.

While energy efficiency is a worthwhile investment, such services are not affordable for so many homeowners and requiring financing to become a reality. Such financing from Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corp. — the electric cooperative that serves North Carolina’s High Country — is not available. So we launched our Energy Savings for the High Country campaign as a step toward making energy efficiency more accessible to residents of the High Country.

Each of the business partners donated $250 toward the contest and provided their services to three households at no charge. Nearly $5,000 of materials were purchased as a result of their donations and the donations of other contest sponsors. With the combination of donated time and materials, we facilitated walk-through home energy assessments of 11 runner-up households as well as energy audits and retrofits for our three contest winners.

John Kidda of reNew Home, inc., and the other businesses were active in the walk-through assessments, determining which households should win the contest and receive retrofits. Thanks to Kent Hively and Sam Zimmerman, grand prize winner Zach Dixon of Boone received $3,200 worth of full house insulation and air sealing. Vance Woodie of West Jefferson, a runner-up, received $800 worth of duct replacement and duct sealing work by Will Hadaway. Sean Dunlap of Sugar Grove, a second runner up, had $800 worth of spray foam insulation and moisture barrier work in his attic crawl space, provided by Kent Hively.

Will Hadaway, owner of HomEfficient, seals Vance Woodie’s basement ducts with mastic.

“If is wasn’t for John Kidda and Kent Hively’s work, living in an old 1930s farmhouse wouldn’t be worth it,” says Dunlap. Hively also provided CFL bulbs for all three homeowners.

The community partnerships with Project on Aging and WeCAN (Crisis Assistance Network) enabled our team to effectively reach a wider audience than we originally anticipated. How? Both of the women involved, Lisa Ward and Graham Doege, were impassioned to help their regular clientele with home energy improvements by distributing our contest application and providing support throughout the application process.

Ward is a caseworker with the Watauga County Project on Aging who works with home-bound senior citizens. She eagerly took a petition which asks Blue Ridge Electric to offer its members affordable energy efficiency programs and our contest application to her in-home visits across the county. We received two applications referred by Ward.

Graham Doege coordinates the WeCAN program, which financially assists residents when they struggle to pay utility or housing costs. Very aware the conditions of poverty in Watauga County — the third poorest county in the state — Doege attempts to educate her clientele on ways to save energy, and therefore money spent on energy, to prevent future payment crises.

Throughout our contest, Graham provided her clients with the contest application as well as Appalachian Voices’ Energy Savings Checklist as an energy savings resource. Doege commented, “I see six clients a day, five days a week. $400 of fuel assistance is all I can offer a household in a year. ” Before offering any crisis assistance funds, Doege tells them, “If you are using your clothes drier, stop and use a clothesline. Then we’ll talk.” Thanks to her efforts, we received two applications referred by Doege.

Besides receiving referrals, partnerships with Project on Aging and WeCAN have informed us of the many constraints residents in rural Watauga County face. We are working to ensure that residents, whether renters or owners, have equal access to the many ways to save money on their utility bills through home energy efficiency. As a result, High Country residents will have the savings necessary for more pressing household needs and an atmosphere in which they can thrive.

Other organizations that posted our contest application materials include: High Country DSS offices and Boards of Education; Watauga Co. Veterans Affairs; Alleghany Cares; Boone Area Missions; Caldwell Co Ag Extension; and Happy Valley Medical Center.

Sign our petition asking Blue Ridge Electric to support energy efficiency. Learn more about the Energy Savings for Appalachia program.

About Jaimie McGirt

Jaimie McGirt, a native of Wrightsville Beach, N.C., served as Appalachian Voices' 2014-15 Americorps Education Outreach Associate, with a focus on community work and energy efficiency issues.