Residential Energy Incentives and Education

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

Sarasota County has implemented a combined program of incentives and education to encourage residential energy improvements by its citizens. The Get Energy Smart Retrofit Program and Energy Upgrade Campaign together have increased homeowner awareness and implementation of energy and water efficiency improvements through free Do It Yourself Energy Saving Kits, rebates and low income loans on eligible improvements and a multi-media education and outreach campaign. Using federal grant dollars to implement the initial programs, Sarasota County is now able to maintain homeowner outreach efforts using in-house staff and resources that were developed under the grant. The incentives reached over 2,000 households who made energy improvements that will save an estimated 3,614 MWh of electricity per year, approximately $400,000 per year in savings for local residents. The Energy Upgrade campaign gave 24 workshops to 700 residents and its comprehensive website had over 4,500 unique visitors in just 8 months. The online resources and workshops continue to inspire additional energy saving improvements, growing demand for local contractors and increasing the disposable income of the homeowners.