LIPA offers rebates on energy savings

Homeowners in Babylon and Southampton with electric heat or central air-conditioning can receive rebates up to $5,000 for remodeling projects that go the extra mile to conserve energy.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Long Island Power Authority on Tuesday announced that LIPA will be the first utility to partner with EPA's Energy Star for remodeling or expanding homes.

The new incentive will expand LIPA's Home Performance with the Energy Star Program, which offers incentives for energy-saving measures. The goal: to lower energy costs and usage even as a home's square footage is expanded. It's done by offering incentives for buying more efficient appliances and air conditioners, for sealing and better insulating a home, and for promoting energy-efficient building techniques.

"There's such an enormous remodeling industry that hasn't officially married energy-efficiency practices," said Chandler Von Schrader, national program manager for the EPA/Home performance with Energy Star.

Von Schrader said the total value of remodeling in 2009 was $250 billion -- $52 billion of which was for energy-related products and services. Only homes with electric heat or central air are eligible because they tend to consume more energy, he said.

LIPA will work with 100 homes in a pilot program. Von Schrader said those homes could reduce their energy bills by $300 to $700 a year.

The program offers up to $5,000 in rebates and incentives for upgraded lighting and appliances and beefed-up insulation; up to $700 for qualifying central air units; $500 for contractors who identify and complete such jobs; and other incentives for the towns' Green Homes programs.

Von Schrader said rolling the project out with LIPA was a natural because it is a national leader in such programs. Babylon, where the program was announced, also has been widely recognized for its Green Homes program, which is funded by tax assessments.

"The LIPA folks took a passionate lead on this," he said. "And the towns have enough of the resources on the ground to pull this off. They stepped forward and said let's go with this."

LIPA chief operating officer Michael Hervey said the program would "serve as a catalyst to inspire our local contractors to think green during the remodeling process."

Babylon Supervisor Steve Bellone said the town would rebate 100 percent of the permit fees for Remodeling with EnergyStar for its part of the program. "We are also creating a green desk in our building department to expedite permits for those who are voluntarily taking on Green projects in their home," he said.