Frederick County’s Office of Sustainability and Environmental Resources (OSER) was awarded a $350,000 grant from the Maryland Energy Administration’s (MEA) 2018 Clean Energy Communities grant program. The grant will fund OSER’s sixth round of its Power Saver Retrofits program (PSR). MEA’s 2018 program had roughly half the amount of funds to distribute across the state compared to previous years and Frederick County’s award was one of the two largest awarded.
A special initiative of the Frederick County Green Homes Challenge PSR targets moderate- and low-income households whose incomes are less than 85% of the median income limit for Frederick County. For each eligible homeowner, contractors certified with the Building Performance Institute, will provide a no-cost Home Performance with Energy Star audit and up to either $7,000 or $10,000 in home energy saving solutions, such as air and duct sealing, insulation, and upgrades of appliances and heating and cooling systems to Energy Star® models. If the audit determines that a heating or cooling system needs to be upgraded, up to $10,000 is available; otherwise the limit is $7,000. There is no cost to the homeowner to participate.

Photo Caption: Homeowner Brian Pick(right) poses with crew members from Atlas Home Energy Solutions engaged in sealing and insulating his home during the 2016 Power Saver Retrofits program.
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