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Port Angeles to Expand Home Weatherization Program by Tom Callis Peninsula Daily News, November 13, 2011

PORT ANGELES -- The city of Port Angeles plans to expand its home weatherization program by about 40 residences next year.

With the help of a Bonneville Power Administration grant, the city has another $200,000 to spend on insulating low-income homes.

Currently, the program, which pays for the entire cost of weatherizing, is only for those who participate in the city's utility discount program for low-income seniors and low-income disabled adults.

The city plans to use the additional funds to weatherize homes owned by low-income residents who are not eligible for that program.

The only requirement is that the home be owned by the resident.

The program is important, said city Power Resources Manager Phil Lusk, because it helps reduce the cost of energy for some of the city's poorest residents.

"It's equivalent to plugging up the hole in a bucket," he said.

The city has weatherized between 70 and 100 homes over the past three years, Lusk said.

The head of Ministry Assisting Neighbors in Need of Agape, which helps struggling Clallam County residents with their utility bills, welcomed the news.

"There's no question there's a lot of houses for low-income people in town that need weatherization," Rick Dunlap said.

"You can just look at their utility bills and see that."