The following is a guest post by Darlene Lombos, Executive Director of Community Labor United, a Barr-grantee.  

In July, 2008, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed the “Green Communities Act.” The Act was designed to promote energy efficiency measures – like home weatherization – throughout the State. One mechanism through which this happens is that utilities now offer rebates for customers who invest in weatherizing their homes. These rebates are paid for by a surcharge that appears on all ratepayers’ utility bills. So, everybody pays. But not everybody benefits. While these rebates are offered to all customers across the State, they are significantly underutilized in communities referred to as “Hard-to-Reach, Hard-to-Serve” (HTR/HTS) – like immigrant communities and communities of color – even though homes in such communities are often some the most energy inefficient in the State.

Members of the Green Justice Coalition – a partnership of over forty community organizations advocated for the State to develop new approaches for reaching these HTR/HTS’s. They recommended developing a pilot that would target households with incomes between 60-120% of median income in the State. The Commonwealth agreed – launching pilots charged with testing a variety of community-based strategies to engage residents in the Mass Save program.

In 2010, Barr contracted with Arbor Consulting Partners to conduct an independent evaluation of two of these pilots: one in Chinatown, led by the Chinese Progressive Association and on in Chelsea, led by the Chelsea Collaborative. The pilots in each of these communities took a similar approach. They hired trusted community organizations to engage residents in working class communities and communities of color. Union members trained residents in home weatherization, and were then hired by contractors to retrofit homes. 

This evaluation concluded that: 

• The pilots in Chelsea and Chinatown met or exceeded their outreach targets and home weatherization. 
• Community-driven outreach reaches low- and moderate-income households much more effectively than conventional marketing typically employed by utilities to promote weatherization programs.
• The pilots also demonstrated how this model generates high quality “green” jobs that are accessible to local workers. 

As the next three-year energy efficiency plan (for 2013-2016) is crafted, the Green Justice Coalition is advocating for statewide expansion of this pilot – arguing that such approaches will significantly improve Massachusetts’ likelihood of reaching its GHG reduction targets. What’s more, thousands of lower-income families will save money on their heating bills, enjoy warmer houses, and dozens of their neighbors will find employment opportunities in jobs that are not only “green” but that also pay family-sustaining wages, provide benefits, training, safety, and pathways to career advancement.

Click here to download the full report and/or executive summary from Community Labor United's website.