Annelisa is a young single mother working hard to make ends meet.  Her small home was leaky and almost completely uninsulated. A local program called Community Power Works stepped in to help.

"My house was insulated [through CPW] by Trius Home Performance and instead of the furnace running once an hour throughout the night to keep the house a cold and drafty 69F it was last night running twice during the whole night and kept it a cozy 69 F," Annelisa said.

Community Power Works, a Seattle compendium of local government agencies, local utilities, non-profits and private companies, funded by a grant from the Department of Energy is offering homeowners rebates that often total more than half the cost of the project.

This is a great story and it's not uncommon.  Many and varied groups are offering everything from small rebates to complete funding for weatherization, renewables and other energy saving measures.  The Puget Sound region where Annelisa lives has a program for free energy assessments to help home owners determine the need and cost for insulation and indoor air quality issues.

The federal Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) has been in place since 1976 and has helped millions of homeowners improve their homes and energy bills nation wide.  Most utilitites inspired by the need to minimize new power generation facilities and nudged by the Federal Government are operating long standing and generous programs to help building owners save energy. 

A clearing house for most of these programs is at the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) website.

Annelisa's story is not unique and as she says, "...don’t forget the rebates - money straight into your pocket."