By Kiah Haslett |
The Energy Department will make $25 million in funding available to northern Illinois homeowners and business owners to defray the cost of making homes more energy-efficient. The proposal couples the grant with at least $300 million in private capital raised from partners to fund the venture. Although the $25 million grant is spread over three years, the private capital will be available sooner, within the year.

The project is a collaboration among the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for
Planning (CMAP), a regional planning organization, the City of Chicago
and the City of Rockford, intended to encourage people to retrofit their
homes to become more energy-efficient and thus lower energy costs,
according to Randy Blankenhorn, CMAP executive director.

The Chicago metropolitan region is eligible to participate in the
retrofit initiative, as is Rockford. The program could start within
three months. Details on eligibility and the terms of any financial
assistance haven’t been worked out yet.

Blankenhorn recommended Chicagoans consider retrofitting their homes and
businesses, starting with getting an energy audit to figure out how
much money they’ll save with a retrofit.

“At the end of the day, we need to reduce the amount of energy we use as
a region and a country. Building energy uses about 70 percent of all
the energy used in the region,” he said. “That’s what the Department of
Energy is looking for: How to reduce energy use through easy stuff like
retrofits.”