Sencon

Here It Comes, There It Goes

On Monday, March 22, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling announced that $6.5 million had been made available for a second round of the Virginia energy Efficiency Rebate Program to make homes and businesses more energy efficient. The first round of funds--$10 million--had gone in just three weeks when it was made available in October 2009. SENCON, Hampton Road's sustainable energy leader, predicted the second round of funding would go even faster, perhaps within 24 hours. That prediction now appears to have come true.

SENCON, which notified more than 3,000 Virginia residents and business owners when the sign-ups for the additional funds were available, is already hearing from some that when they went to sign up on Tuesday, that they were put on a waiting list with a message saying funding for their request had already been exhausted. 

The rebate program, administered by the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, helps pay for energy efficient improvements to homes and businesses including upgrading heating and air conditioning equipment, adding insulation, replacing leaky windows, as well as other improvements that reduce energy consumption and utility costs.  Homeowners are eligible for rebates up to 20 percent of the costs of qualifying energy conserving products and services with a max benefit of $2,000. Commercial consumers are eligible for 20 percent of their costs up to $4,000. Qualified home and business owners also can reserve an additional $250 for a certified energy audit.

Three appliances have been added to the program for the second round of rebates including refrigerators, dishwashers and clothes washers.

While it appears funding may be exhausted, residents and business owners can and should still sign up in order to be put on the waiting list. Some rebates may not be approved if they fail to meet eligibility requirements, meaning the funds would move on down the line. 

The online application, rules, forms and additional information are available at www.dmme.virginia.gov. Once on that page, click on the link to the page for Energy Rebate Program.

According to the DMME, applicants can apply to reserve funding for a rebate. Once approved, they then have up to six months to complete the work and redeem the reservation for a rebate check. Applications for rebate reservations will be processed in the order they are received.  Once reservations deplete available funds, applications will be placed on a wait list in the order received.  Wait-listed applicants may be approved for rebate reservations if additional funds become available.