Low-Income Weatherization: Practical and Policy Limitations to

Increasing Services in Rural Oregon

D’Anne Hammond

Master of Public PolicyPresentation

Low-Income Weatherization (Wx)

• Brief history and description of program

• Defining rural

• Literature review

• Interviews: findings

• Conclusions and recommendations

DOE-WAP• Dates prior to Head Start Act

– Johnson ‘War on Poverty’ 1965

– Title IV Energy Conservation and Production Act 1976

• Previously under-funded and inconsistent

– Depends on federal administration at the time

• Obama: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

– Increased funding and raised income qualification

Funding• DOE-WAP (+ARRA)

• Recently funded at max:2009-2011 $4,563,299

• Increased with ARRA: 2009-2012 $38,512,236

• 15-20% of LIHEAP block grant• Bonneville Power Administration

• PNW Power Planning and Conservation Act PL 96-501

• Petroleum Violation Escrow (PVE)• Public Purpose Fund, SB 1149 (OEAP-ECHO)

• Customer charge on power bill--monthly fee

Community Action Agencies(CAA)

• Non-profit– Includes senior centers

• Provide many services to low-income households– Self-sufficiency– Job training and skills– Other assistance

• Familiar with barriers to self-sufficiency• 18 agencies serving 36 Oregon counties

Qualifying households

• Priority populations– Children under 6– Elderly (60+)– Disabled

• Income 200% FPL – Previously 60% Oregon median income

WAP Goals• Energy efficiency

– Conservation

• Disproportionately high energy burden (FSC)

Functions:• Caulking, weather-stripping, cf light bulbs• Insulation, windows, furnace, refrigerators...

– Solar water heaters (4 or more in household)– Mold/mildew repair

Allocation

• Lengthy succession of formulas...– Base allocations; priority populations...

• Primary distinctions for rural/urban:– WAP East/West heating degree days2

• 6,000/4,500

– Number of households below 200% poverty• Smaller number in rural areas

What does ‘rural’ mean?• Office of Management and Budget (OMB)• Rural Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA)• Urban-centric Locale Categories (NCES)• Office of Rural Policy classifications (Oregon)• Census Bureau

– Offers smallest geographical units of measure– Rural Communities Explorer

Example

17.65%14.43%17.41%14.37%Pov. Rate

12-rural11-rural2-Metro2-MetroCensus definition

MetroMetroMetroMetroCounty definition

2222Urban influence

14.59%17.47%37.28%25.51%4yr+ Ed.

$28,272$30,505$35,850$36,942Med. income

2,3557,263137,893322,959Population

MapletonFlorenceEugeneLane Co.Variable

Lit ReviewBarriers to Self Sufficiency

• Transportation, distance/access

• Human capital

• Community built capital

• Employment

• Perceived stigma

• Satellite offices

Agency interviews

• Open-ended questions

• Community Services Consortium (CSC)

• Community Action Team (CAT)

• Neighbor Impact (NI)

Agency interviews: Issues• Transportation, distance/access• Available workers-human capital• Access to low-cost materials• Maximum per household, $3,055• Cost to savings ratio 1:1• 10% for administration• Prevailing wages (Davis-Bacon Act)

Transportation• CSC “We perform wx services throughout all three

counties. The most difficult is nearer to the coast because it’s farthest but crews are employed year-round so they just go there.”

• CAT“Distance is not an issue and could not be an issue,

we must serve them when it comes up on the list...it’s not far enough to matter.”

Transportation

• NI

“The longer distance results in additional cost; there is much more time involved...time.”

Human CapitalEducation and skills

• CSC

“Training and certifications are performed at CSC as needed and employee turnover is minimal.”

Human Capital• CAT“...must double the number of contractors

with training certifications in lead-safe practices, mold identification and repair, etc.”

“Trainings are infrequent and not necessarily local which will requires extra time to get this in place.”

Human Capital

• NI

“...smaller pool of workers who can pass the course...”

Built Capital

• CSC maintains in-house crews and has access to low-cost materials

• CAT contracts crews in the business - they have connections to materials

• NI does NOT have access to low-cost materials (wholesale suppliers)

Maximum $ per household

• CAT and CSC do not have trouble staying within the $3,055 limit

• NI“funding is based--at least in part--on population

but delivering these services costs more in rural areas...we don’t have access to wholesale prices; therefore cost effectiveness is difficult to accommodate.”

Cost:savings ratio 1:1• CAT and CSC: the most prominent aspect

of DOE-WAP regulations that sometimes causes trouble--prices fluxuate per market

• NI “four years ago we had three price increases

in insulation...it was a demand issue during building boom...prices subject to market forces”

10% for Adminsatellite offices

• Agencies receiving > $350,000 limited to 5%

• CSC runs multiple offices and 5% is adequate

• CAT: the mandate of documenting worker pay on

every job, increases admin costs

• NI: “we must run extra office space in each

county at additional cost”– Note: NI now funded at $1,484,782

Davis-Bacon Actprevailing wages

• CSC employs in-house crews and pays prevailing wages

• CAT “it’s not our business to know what

contractors pay their workers; we check for license/bonding/insurance and include forms describing conditions in working for the agency...”

Davis-Bacon Actprevailing wages

• NI

“...literally, a worker in Bend will get paid the same as in LaPine; and if we can find someone to train, we struggle to pay them a competitive wage.”

Conclusions and Recommendations

More money to do more jobs is insufficient

• Address the rural/urban differential:• Heating degree days and number of low-income

households are insufficient indicators of need • Transportation, materials, and administrative costs

are higher in rural areas• Consider increasing admin % and max limit for

rural areas and make time allowance

• Define ‘rural,’ be wary of county defs • Consider using tool like Rural Communities

Explorer to identify rural vs. urban places

Conclusions and Recommendations

• Ambiguous rules about mandatory training:• Sufficient to have one specialist/crew?

• Davis-Bacon is admirable goal but • Increases administrative costs: tracking/reporting• http://www.wdol.gov different rates apply to

different areas, more rural=higher pay• Complicated and unclear

Other Considerations...

• Will this level of funding continue beyond 2012?– Agencies need some guarantee or workers will

be laid off...and around we go...– At the time of interviews, time limit for use of

funds was unknown

• CAT“If we only have a year to use the funds, we won’t

be able to use them at all...”

Q & A