Annapolis Is First Maryland City To Launch An Energy Saving Program For Property Owners

Dec. 10, 2009 - PRLog -- This initiative, the Annapolis EZ|Energy Zone Program, builds on legislation passed by Annapolis in January 2009 enabling its property owners to attach energy improvement loans to their properties. Annapolis is the first City in Maryland to pass such legislation.

The City of Annapolis, in cooperation with Maryland Clean Energy Center (MCEC), Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), Edison|Wright and Direct Energy will launch the first phase of the program Annapolis EZ|Energy Zone (Annapolis EZ) in early 2010. The program is designed to help with financing and implementation of energy efficiency for Annapolis residential property owners. Annapolis EZ anticipates improving up to 50 properties in Annapolis during the first phase of the program. It is currently signing up interested participants.

“Many residential property owners would like to improve the energy efficiency of their home,” said Mayor Moyer. “However, high upfront cost and other financial hurdles often deter them from getting involved. Annapolis EZ does exactly what the name says – it makes it easy to move forward with projects and see real savings on energy bills.”

The program is financed by MCEC with funding made available from stimulus dollars through MEA.

“Annapolis EZ makes the cost of energy improvements easy to finance for property owners because energy savings often completely offset the cost of the improvements,” said Kathy Magruder, Executive Director at Maryland Clean Energy Center. “MCEC is pleased to finance and help administer the program in the City of Annapolis. This is the first of many programs we plan on running in the state to improve the health of our citizens, our economy and, not least, our environment.”

“The Maryland Energy Administration is pleased to be a part of the first ever Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loan program in the State and one of only several around the country,” remarked MEA Director Malcolm Woolf. “The funding made available to Annapolis homeowners for residential energy efficiency retrofits and repayments marks one more step under the leadership of Governor Martin O’Malley towards a Smart, Green and Growing Maryland.”

Annapolis EZ makes it possible for Annapolis property owners to finance energy improvements without affecting their credit score, and if they sell their property before the loan is paid off, the next property owner will take over the payments along with the reduced energy bill. The Annapolis EZ program also provides property owners with a list of only pre-approved, certified auditors, installers and contractors.

Peter Mellen, CEO of Edison|Wright, said, “We are delighted that our work with the City of Annapolis on the details and legal framework of the program has created this valuable opportunity for property owners. Edison|Wright will continue to work with the City, MCEC and Direct Energy on running the program in Annapolis, and hopes to see similar programs in many new jurisdictions in the near future.”

According to published reports, PACE programs have the potential to unleash over $250 billion of investment into clean energy improvements over the next 10 years, eliminating more than a gigaton of CO2 emissions, saving $1.75 billion in annual electricity costs and creating 400,000 jobs per year.

“Increased education and easy to use programs are the keys to fundamentally changing our energy usage in the State of Maryland and across the United States,” said Eric Palm, Vice President of Direct Energy - Annapolis EZ|Energy Zone’s lead energy retrofit provider. “Conducting an energy assessment of their home is the first step for a homeowner to understand what improvements need to be undertaken to reduce their energy usage and positively impact the environment.”

Annapolis EZ will use contractors who are participating with the Maryland Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program. These contractors have been trained to take a ‘whole-house’ approach that identifies comfort, safety and energy efficiency improvements.

For more information on the Annapolis EZ program or to sign up as a potential participant, see: http://www.AnnapolisEZ.com

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Maryland Clean Energy Center [http://www.MDCleanEnergy.org] is a not-for-profit quasi-governmental corporation with the support of many state government agencies including the Office of the Governor and the Maryland Energy Administration. The Center operates nimbly and entrepreneurially, with a passion for clean energy, to accomplish its mission of increased health of our economy and environment.

Edison|Wright [http://www.EdisonWright.com] builds public-private partnerships to promote energy conservation and renewable energy improvements. The firm works with governments to reduce their carbon footprint through the EZ|Energy Zone™ program that enables property owners to recognize fast energy savings on green energy improvements.

Maryland Energy Administration [http://www.Energy.Maryland.gov] maximizes energy efficiency while promoting economic development, reducing reliance on foreign energy supplies, and improving the environment.