 Hi there. Welcome to this month's episode of In the World of Winooski. Today I'm joined by the community engagement lead for Efficiency Vermont. Michelle, would you like to introduce this? This is energy use, that sort of thing. We are funded by the energy efficiency charge on everyone's electrical bill. So if you look at your electric bill, you'll notice that there's a small line that says the EEC. That is actually what's funding our program. And so it's really important that we work across the state to ensure that everyone benefits from our program because everyone pays into it. That's excellent. And part of the reason you're joining us today is because you are specifically focusing a campaign in Winooski where, if you didn't know, Efficiency Vermont is actually headquartered. We are, but that's not the only reason we're here. So Efficiency Vermont every year picks about two to three communities to do a specialized program in that area. The idea really is to really get us in these communities and really understand the barriers and opportunities to energy efficiency. So in the past we've selected, like after COVID, we selected a handful of communities that were really impacted by the pandemic. They were ski area towns and we really wanted to get in there and understand how we could help them recover. The last year, since 2022, we've been in Brattle Bear in Winooski because we realized that if we really want to diversify our customer base and make sure we're reaching everyone, we really need to do a better job of understanding what renters and people of color in Vermont need in order to access our services. And both Winooski and Brattleboro have the highest percentage in the state of both those demographics. So it's been really exciting. We usually only do a year, but actually in Winooski and in Brattleboro, we will be doing a two-year, maybe even longer campaign. Oh wow, that's great. Yeah, because we're really trying to look at our different services and how we may be able to update them to better serve this demographic. That's awesome. You know, there's another reason I think it's great that you're in Winooski. We have some of the oldest homes in Chittenden County. For folks you don't know, more than 60% of houses in Winooski are more than 50 years old and 40% are actually more than 80. So I think there's probably a lot of houses out there that could use some upgrades for not just energy savings, but cost savings. The first I'll talk about is a limited time $200 efficient appliance coupon. So the idea is that everyone should have gotten the efficiency coupon in their mail already. If you haven't, it's very easy. You can go on our website and you can download it at efficiencyvermont.com backslash Winooski. You should see that on your screen now. And I'm going to scroll down a little bit. There's this beautiful city of ours right there. I actually live in Winooski, fun facts. And yeah, for renters and homeowners, we have a $200 appliance coupon that can go towards qualifying washers, dryers, refrigerators, air purifiers, air conditioners, and heat pump water heaters. And I'll just say, and I might highlight a few things like this throughout that, this really came from the Winooski community of understanding what appliances they might need help purchasing, particularly as renters, right? Like so what are the different things that individuals may be buying in their rental units that they really could look for support on? This old offer really used to be focused on larger appliances because that's where we knew we could have the biggest impact, but we got the feedback of like, I don't have controller for my hot water heater, but I really need an air purifier for my home. And so that is why we diversified what you can get with this coupon. And again, you can just download it. It's limited to one per household, but hopefully that can help cover a significant portion of that. That's really exciting that you're able to adjust the program to meet, you know, what you're actually hearing from the community. Yeah, I feel very lucky, honestly, to work for this organization. We are a constituents-based organization. Like our whole purpose of existing is to provide supportment as well, maybe what you can do throughout your home. And then they might push you on to broader programs, right? Like if your home really needs weatherization, that's a much bigger project than maybe just upgrading some of your appliances. But our team is there to talk you through that process and provide you some support. So we have a link on the website, again, that you can just click and you can, it's that first offer on the left. You can sign up online. It has all the times there. I think right now we're booking out about six weeks, but it's totally free. And some people are a little hesitant about the video call, but we have found it works really well. And with everything we've gone through with COVID, we've actually found people be more comfortable with us on the video, rather than inside their homes. Yep. Yep. And easy enough to work into your schedule when you could just point and click instead of inviting someone in. Yeah, you don't have to lock up the dog, you don't have to worry about your kids, you know, like we've found that it's actually made it a lot easier. At first everyone was really nervous, like, oh, well, I get as much as I need out of it being. Christopher Mott has been working in the space of efficient lighting for many, many years now. But I will say that in June, a lot of our lighting incentives are actually going away. And so we are really trying to support as many customers as possible is getting free LED light bulbs in their home to help them improve their lighting. So everyone can get a free energy saving kit. We're trying to get one in every single home. So if you haven't ordered one, please order one. You get a smart Wi-Fi bulb. These are really fun. Kids love them in their room because you can make it different colors. And then we have a handful of different other lights that range in different wattage that will be for your kitchen or some brighter ones for reading. You also get a free shower head because efficient shower heads help you reduce your water usage, which also in return reduces your hot water usage, which generates energy savings. And again, cost savings on your bills. And cost savings on your bills. Thank you, yes. And a lot of people, this is like the one thing that they're like, what is this thing? It is a faucet aerator for your sink. A lot of people don't realize that they maybe don't have, particularly if they're living in an older building. Sometimes their faucets have absolutely nothing that stops the water flow or slow, I shouldn't say soft, slows the water flow. This you can attach to your faucet and slows the water flow and makes it more powerful too. So this is the one that's actually made for your kitchen sink. I actually used it on my bathroom and I don't mind it there. But yeah, again, it stops just unnecessary use of water. And can you just like screw these in? Like folks at home could just easily use these themselves? Yeah. So I will say the faucet aerator is the one that people usually struggle the most with. And that's because if you have a really old sink that the inside of your faucet doesn't have like the ridges for the screwing to catch into. Sometimes that doesn't, that can be really hard. Sometimes it takes taking something and cleaning out the inside or a handful of times it just doesn't work. But for the most part, this is really easy. Same thing with your shower head. If you have a really old shower connector this could struggle to get on, but this is the standard size it should work for anyone. Again, renters usually love these because sometimes in rental units they don't have great shower heads. And they're really excited to get a free shower head. And then yeah, these all go into your standard light switch. And the Wi-Fi bulb has pretty easy instructions on it to download the app, which is also free so that you can play with a lot of the smart light technology that's out there. Very exciting. Yeah. And there's a lot of light bulbs in here folks. Yes, there's 10. I could pull them all out, but I don't think that's worth doing. You can get your whole home going. Yeah, you can get your whole home going. And hopefully they'll last you some time. LED bulbs last for quite a long time. We do hear back from some people that are like, these bulbs are going to last me forever. And I'm like, yeah, that's, that's the point. It's a good thing. So yeah, again, you can either order the kit or if you're interested in some of the renter specific offers, you can click on the free products or renters as well. And it's a very easy sign up. We are also handing these out in person because again, we got feedback that for some people going online and ordering through the form was confusing, or maybe they didn't have their utility bill account information, which for some people they don't have access to because they do rent. And so we have been at different community events. You may have seen us at town meeting day. But my colleague, Becker Custard will be at the O'Brien Community Center the first Wednesday of each month till June, from 3.30 to 5.30, handing these out. I do post a report forum the day before those events. And you can find it on the Winooski website. Excellent. Yeah. Is there anything else you want to share for residents before we talk about local businesses? I will just say that if a significant portion of your energy bill does, of your income does go towards your energy bill, you could qualify from some pretty robust cost-saving services through us that we execute in partnership with the Champlain Valley Economic Office of Opportunity, which I believe they were on last month. Yes. I hosted them recently as well. Yeah. So I believe they were on last month. But yeah, so if you are a low-income household, it's always worth calling us and seeing what you may qualify for. The services go from free weatherization to free appliance replacement. What's the phone number? For us? Yes. I want to make sure I read it correctly. Where is it? I know I wrote it on here. Oh, sorry. 888-921-5990. I'll be sure to share that out too. Yes. And it's on the screen right now. Oh, great. Perfect. Yep. Yep. Okay. Okay. That's exciting news. Yes. You want to hear what you've got on offer for businesses. Yeah. So similar to residential customers, we offer free also we are piling an effort in Winooski and Bradbro. It's the first time that we're launching a social equity bonus, which is for minority and women-owned business. So this is for businesses that are 51% or more owned by a woman or an individual who is a person of color. This is $1,000 on top of our regular incentives for qualifying projects. We know that these businesses can use the extra boost, and we're hoping that this will help. So if you're in that category and interested in working with us, please go to the website again, reach out to us. You can give the 1-800 number, call, you can email us, or if you go to the efficiencyvermont.com backslash Winooski, you can fill out the form. I'm very excited that we're doing this. I think it could have a huge impact on Winooski. And business owners, watch out, because myself or Becca might be going door to door and making sure that everyone knows this exists and to see how we can help out. That's great. I'm also excited that, you know, you're able to try this new social equity bonus out. Provide weatherization services to residential customers that are on Vermont Gas Services, Green Mountain Power, the Winooski Parent and Students group. Everyone, there's been so many people who have stood up and said, yes, we would love to bring their services to more people in Winooski. But we've seen some barriers, and this is what we'd like to see you do differently. And we've done our best to respond. And we're really hopeful to see some great uptake over the next year. And we're, again, we're open for more feedback and to keep working on it. That's really excellent. And exciting that you're able to extend the one year time period to get out there more. It is great that you are focusing on renters in the rental community. You know, that is more than 60% of Winooski's population. But just to be clear for folks watching, landlords can take this up. Homeowners, anyone can access your services. Absolutely. And I have to say, we are working on also a suite of offers for property owners. So there are some already on the website that you can access, but more to come to be truthful with you. We, again, have been talking to property owners, the city a lot, and the Vermont Gas crew, who's been in a lot of properties. Burlington Lett is another partner we've spoken to to try to get a better understanding of what we can do for private property owners. So I wish I had them all today. They're not all launched, but they will be launched very soon. Never too early to talk to us though, and we can absolutely talk to you and see how we can help you out. And absolutely, our bread and butter truly are single-family homes and duplexes. We're always working with homeowners. But, you know, to see what we can do, and we have a lot of great offers beyond even what I've talked here. You know, our standard offers for weatherization, heat pump, water heaters, heat pumps, which I'll just make a plug. I used to kind of think if I was on Vermont Gas, maybe I didn't need a heat pump. But since working in efficiency, Vermont, I learned about the benefits. I actually ended up installing one alongside my gas system, and it provides me cooling. It provides me an efficient option alongside my gas system. And I just, I love that I have both options, depending on which is more efficient, given which temperature. I can't speak to it enough. And then my heat pump, hot water heater, I also put in, and it dehumidifies my whole basement, keeps it really dry. So all those things we can help you out with, we have incentives and all of that. And your utility, your green mountain power, and or Vermont Gas may have additional incentives on top of it. So I'm always saying to people, just give us a call, right? Like, you can go to our website, I know we're a real society that loves to self serve on the web, which you definitely can do, but it's even better just to give us a call or email us because we really can work you through what may work best for your situation. Yeah, and it's great that you're partnered with those utilities, because I know Vermont Gas has weatherization, green mountain power has other things on offer. And so knowing that folks can go to efficiency, Vermont, as like your first point of contact, and get help with all of that, that's wonderful. Yeah, and really you can, I always say, there's no one bad to contact, you could start off a green mountain power and their team definitely is set up to send you over here or Vermont Gas. We all meet very regularly, we're all talking very regularly. And our goal is to never make it difficult for the customer to access all of our services. We truly want to make it easy because it's our goal, right? We're held by the state to make sure that these services are getting back to our customers. That's right. Is there anything else that you want to share? Have we covered all of the offers and programs? I'm double checking. Yeah, I think there, again, look for us for events in Winooski. If you have events coming up that you want us to at, please reach out to us. We love learning about new, you know, it's always easier for us to show up where people are going to be. Us doing our own events doesn't always make a lot of sense. So we are always happy to learn about events and show up at them and make sure we have our services there. And if you are a community leader that is working in Winooski and you would like to try to talk to us about what you're trying to do and how we might be able to support you or vice versa, again, feel free to reach out to us. We know there's a lot going on. And I feel like every day I'm turning over something new and wonderful that's happening in the community. Me too. So again, it's Wednesdays, 3.30 to 5.30? The first Wednesday of each month until June, because again, June, at the end of June is when the energy kits go away. So act now or show up in a minute. Stop at the community center and get your energy kit. Get your fun smart light bulb. Visit the website. Call 888-921-5909. And if you really want to stay up to date with us, you know, our incentives are always changing. We also have some additional money that are coming in from some of the federal bills that have been signed. So there may be some additional incentives coming. You can always sign up for our newsletters as well. They're efficiencyverwant.com, backslash newsletter sign up. And they're a great way to stay aware of what's going on. We have a business focus one, a residential one, and again, for partners if people are interested in working with us in more of like a partnership way. That's excellent. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you so much for having us. Yes. Thank you for bringing this campaign to Winooski and for all the work happening statewide to, you know, save energy, save costs for folks, combat climate change. It's really important work that's happening. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. And thanks for tuning in to In the World of Winooski. You can always visit www.winooski.gov for more information.