Chelan PUD Develops Energy Conservation Program for Struggling Households

Chelan PUD is in the midst of developing a Low Income High Energy Burden program for next year. The goal of the program is to reduce the impact of rate increases for households that spend more than 6% of their paycheck on electricity, considered High Energy Burden households.

"So our new programs are really focused on how can we reduce the amount of energy that people are using in these High Burden homes, so that their energy bills will decrease," said Lacy Stockton, energy efficiency marketing strategist.

There were two ways to approach the issue, with one being financial assistance.

"The other way, which has a lot longer of a benefit, is that you would do conservation or energy efficiency programs in their home," said Stockton.

This means instead of exhausting a lot of energy, they could have new insulation, weatherization or new appliances that use less energy.

The programs are set to be rolled out in 2021.