Clean Energy Works is Live in the Rogue Valley

Jason is shown on this KDRV news segment at the Rogue Valley Launch of the CEWO program here. If your home is older than 1993 and you are looking for up to $3200 in instant rebates, a free $500 value assessment, and a 5.99% interest loan to pay for the upgrades, go to http://www.cleanenergyworksoregon.org/ and enter CNVOS as your instant rebate code. This program will provide incentives for the first 250 homeowners no matter if they heat with Pacific Power, Avista or City of Ashland services. This is a HUGE bonus for Avista and City of Ashland customers who are not eligible for Energy Trust of Oregon incentives. In order to qualify, visit the CEWO site above and get started on the application today and enter CNVOS as your instant rebate code.

Clean Energy Works Oregon (CEWO)Program Information

We are excited to announce that we have been selected to participate in the pilot program here in Southern Oregon. CEWO teams homeowners needing energy updates with highly skilled contractors , and a local Credit Union that will provide low interest rate financing. All of this, is aimed the energy efficiency of more than 25000 qualifying homes in our area while creating family wage jobs for experienced contractors in our local area. The incentives and rebates are paid directly towards the principal price of the upgrades rather than being reimbursed after the customer pays out of pocket. To see if you qualify in four easy steps, visit here. Be sure to enter CNVOS in the Instant Rebate Code section.

Referral Program for 2010

If you refer a customer to us that leads to a signed contract, we will show our thanks with cash in your pocket! The larger the contract, the bigger our show of thanks. It is our belief that there is no better form of advertising than word of mouth, and now you can be paid to help us get the word out! Contact us at 541-944-9401 for more details.

Insider: Energy Trust of Oregon Newsletter

In this month's issue of Insider, there is a breakdown of 5 ways Oregonians will see Stimulus money that is coming in to Oregon:
1. Grants to states under the State Energy Program.
2. Block Grants to State, Local and Tribal Governments with a possibility that Energy Trust can be contracted to manage these grants.
3. Weatherization Assistance, higher income limits and possibility of up to $6500 in assistance per home.
4. Residential Tax Credits, (Details and Links in March 10, 2009 blog post).
5. Renewable Energy Tax Credits.

You can read Energy Trust of Oregon's summary on these issues here:

http://www.energytrust.org/TA/insider/0903/stim_pack.html

Stimulus Bill will bring more money to homeowners

As a Green Builder and Home Performance contractor, we are constantly researching the ever changing incentives, tax credits and rebates that are out there for our customers. We believe that providing this education and information to a homeowner can be challenging when so much keeps changing. We were sent this email message from a business contact in Louisiana and thought it summarized the expectations from this Stimulus bill fairly clearly.

http://www.nbnnews.com/NBN/issues/2009-03-09/Front+Page/index.html

One thing to note is that the IRS tax form at the bottom is for 2008 and still includes the cap on renewable energy installations, where the stimulus removed caps and states that 30% of the cost can be recovered.

ENERGY STAR(R) has a link on their website detailing the changes as well. They too point to a 2008 tax form 5695 so the IRS may not publish the 2009 forms until late 2009 or early 2010 according to this site. The specific requirements on the ENERGY STAR site are very helpful for homeowners, and all of us contractors that wish to provide this information to our customers. The link can be accessed here:

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits#s1

There are some exciting changes in this bill that will allow homeowners to make the investment in their homes and shorten the payback period considerably.

As always, if you have questions, we'd be happy to try to find answers for you!

Stimulus Bill = Weatherization Money for Homeowners

If you have an extra 2 days, or four, here is a link to information on the Stimulus bill and the proportioned amounts of money that will go to each area in our economy. As I find relevant information for our customers, I will pass those sections along.

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/h1/Recovery_Bill_Div_A.pdf

One exciting piece of information I've found so far is that within this proposal, the Federal Government is proposing to turn the 30% Solar Energy Tax credit into a grant. This means that instead of having to have 30% of the cost up front and have the repayment be stretched over many years, it will be paid for up front.

This is a large factor for several groups of people (mainly):

• Self-employed families that pay the majority of their federal income tax as "Self Employed" tax which can't be recovered under any current federal income tax and/or the credits can't be used at the state level either.
• Cash/Credit strapped Families/Homeowners who are very interested in the benefits of adding Solar PV or Water to their homes but don't have the large out of pocket amount up front. With tightening Home Equity Loans and credit in general, it can also be difficult to qualify for any loan to pay for Solar during these hard economic times.

As always, when we find relevant new information we will post it here. We're always interested in people's discussion and insight on these issues. We like to learn and hear all perspectives so feel free to post comments.

Southern Oregon Spring Home Show Feb. 13-15th

The Home Builder's Association is presenting the Southern Oregon Spring Homeshow this weekend at the Jackson County Expo. We will be there Friday from 12-7, Saturday 10-7 and Sunday 10-4. If you or your Valentine is thinking about a home improvement this year, come check out all there is to offer at this Annual Spring Event.

Be sure to visit us in booth 7 upper level...we'll be giving away free samples of Local natural honey!

See you there!