Delaware Tops Nation in Implementation of Stimulus-Funded Weatherization Program

Job-Creation Program Is Operating in Delaware At Almost Seven Times the National Average

For Immediate Release: Thursday, March 4, 2010

Wilmington - Lieutenant Governor Matthew Denn, who has been asked by the Governor to oversee implementation of the federal stimulus program at the state level, announced today that the State of Delaware had implemented the federal government's stimulus-funded low-income home weatherization program faster than any other state in America. Delaware's ranking was contained in a report by the Inspector General of the United States Department of Energy.

In late February, the U.S. Inspector General prepared a report indicating that nationally, states had weatherized only 5.17% of the homes for which American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds were provided, even though one third of the life of the ARRA program had expired. Delaware, by contrast, had weatherized 34% of the homes for which it had received funds-almost seven times the national average, and first among the states.

In Delaware, the Department of Health and Social Services oversees the low-income home weatherization program. The day-to-day operations of the program are run by two non-profit organizations, Neighborhood House and First State Community Action. The state has authorized four entities to train new workers for this weatherization work, and the bulk of the training has been conducted by Delaware Technical and Community College and the Laborers union.

"The fact that Delaware has implemented this important job-creation program faster than any other state is a real credit to the teamwork between the Department of Health and Social Services, the non-profit organizations that work with DHSS to oversee this program, the private partners who worked with us to quickly train new workers, and the workers themselves," said Lieutenant Governor Denn. "It is really a classic Delaware story. When we realized in the fall that the program was not starting as quickly as we had hoped, we gathered the players together, decided on a plan to ramp up our efforts, and implemented that plan.

In the U.S. Department of Energy's response to the Inspector General's report, Deputy Energy Secretary Kathleen Hogan described the growth in Delaware's weatherization program between the third quarters and fourth quarters of last year as "nearly exponential."

Delaware Health and Social Services Secretary Rita Landgraf said "We are very proud of the way that state and private workers have teamed up to implement this very challenging program. Aside from the speed with which we have weatherized units, we are also very pleased with the robust quality control safeguards we have built into the program-we not only want homes weatherized, we want them weatherized well."

"I am excited that we have accomplish this much in this short time, I am confident that First State's weatherization program will complete and exceed the number of homes we are contracted to do. It requires great effort, but we are submitted to ensure that every job is done right, not just fast," said Bernice Edwards, Executive Director, First State Community Action Agency.

"Delaware Tech is fully committed to supporting the Governor's vision for climate prosperity and preparing the workforce for new and expanding jobs. We are working closely with state agency partners and with energy industry leaders to make Delaware a model of sustainability and do our part to grow a green economy. Training for weatherization is one of the first educational offerings we have implemented because energy efficiency and conservation is the most important first step in reducing our energy dependence and costs," said Stephanie Smith, VP for Academic Affairs at Del Tech.

Brian McGlinchey, Director of Government Affairs for the Laborers Eastern Region which assisted with training some of the new weatherization workers, stated "This report proves to the rest of the country what we have always known here at home -- Delaware's labor community -- and in particular, Laborers Local 55 -- is ready to work, highly-skilled and able to quickly adapt to whatever the market requires. We are proud of our weatherization program and our new green construction training facility and we are thrilled to be part of an effort to create good paying, local jobs."

In the last quarter of 2009, the state's stimulus-funded low-income weatherization program supported 75 jobs. "In the context of the number of Delawareans who are unemployed, seventy-five jobs may not seem like a lot," Denn said. "But those are seventy-five Delawareans who wouldn't be working right now if this program hadn't been implemented so efficiently."

The report prepared by the U.S. Inspector General can be viewed here.