It’s a program designed to help low- and middle-income homeowners secure low-interest loans to help make their homes more energy efficient. But because it’s offered only to residents of affluent Alexandria, many residents earning six-figure incomes are going to qualify.
Alexandria officials launched the Northern Virginia Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program to help locals learn how to “green” their houses, offering them loans of up to $20,000 at a 4.9 percent interest rate to help get the job done.
To qualify for that loan, a household must have an income at or below the local average, which in Alexandria is $107,500 a year.
City officials say the program closes a gap in its green-energy loan program. Previously, the city had offered energy-efficiency assistance to low-income residents, but the new program, set up in cooperation with a federal credit union, would extend that assistance to middle-income residents.
“It’s kind of an incentive,” said Michael Hogan, a residential energy services manager at the Local Energy Alliance Program, or LEAP, which is working with Alexandria to assess residents’ houses and recommend “green” contractors for projects.
Hogan said many homeowners want to make their homes more energy-efficient but don’t have the money to do it.
“The program just takes back one of those obstacles so homeowners can enjoy the advantages of it,” he said.
He said Alexandria’s wealthier residents might not require the city’s low-interest loan offer, but the program would pay off for those who do.
“There’s people that are upside down because of their utility bills. This will make such a difference,” Hogan said.
The program is funded with federal and local money and through private financing, said Shane Cochran, the Alexandria Housing Department’s division chief for program implementation.
“I think it’s a great partnership that is unusual,” he said. “It’s exciting to see the government working with the private sector to leverage funds.”
