Local Winners in Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge Competition

The Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge recently announced the winners of its Community Group Rewards Competition, which encouraged homeowners to take steps to reduce home energy costs.

In East Hampton, the top three point-earners – and their respective prizes – were the East Hampton Lions and Belltown Leos Club with $1,000, Congregational Church of East Hampton with $500, and Friends of Lake Pocotopaug with $250. In Portland, the top three were the Portland Public Library, Portland Garden Club and Portland Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). All prizes will go toward energy-related rewards.

Groups in each of the other 13 participating Neighbor to Neighbor communities will be awarded similar prizes, recognizing their efforts to engage their members around home energy efficiency. The competition’s top point-earner and overall winner was the Friends of Cheshire Public Library, which received a $5,000 grand prize.  

Howard “Skip” Wiley, President of the East Hampton Lions and Belltown Leos Club said, “We will definitely put these rewards to good use. We have some members of the club that could really use some assistance.”

All Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge participants were able to log in to the program web site and use their Personal Energy Dashboard to assign points to the community group of their choice.

In addition, all participating community groups were eligible to receive points for hosting and encouraging their members to attend Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Savings Workshops. Groups also received points when their members received a Home Energy Solutions (HES) visit or followed through with a home energy upgrade to reduce their homes’ energy waste. This was the first of two deadlines for prizes, and community groups’ point totals have been reset for a second deadline in April 2012.

Home Energy Solutions (HES) is a program of the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund in partnership with CL&P, UI and the natural gas utilities. Home Energy Solutions is available to all Connecticut residents for a limited time at the low price of $75, although the work performed during the assessment is valued at approximately $700. Connecticut residents who participate in Home Energy Solutions can expect to save an average of $200 a year from the measures taken during the assessment. For more information on HES specifics and information about the Community Group Rewards Competition, visit www.CTEnergyChallenge.com/HES.

About the Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge

  The Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge is a community energy savings program made possible by a $4.17 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, funded as part of the BetterBuildings initiative, whose mission is to create a self-sustaining building energy upgrade market. With more than $500 million in federal funding, the Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge is one of 41 state and local government programs providing high quality energy improvements to homes and businesses across the nation.

Over three years, Neighbor to Neighbor will engage residents in 14 towns, helping them reduce their energy use by 20 percent, according to its press release. The program is administered by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and draws resources and experience from several partner organizations, including Earth Markets, Clean Water Fund, the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, EMpower Devices, MIT, SmartPower, Snugg Home, Mobile Genius and the Student Conservation Association. For more information, visit http://www.CTEnergyChallenge.com.

The 14 participating towns include Bethany, Cheshire, East Haddam, East Hampton, Glastonbury, Lebanon, Mansfield, Portland, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport, Wethersfield, Wilton and Windham.