Energy Pro3 Awards Given to LEAP, City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County and UVA Community Credit Union
Charlottesville, Virginia (October 7, 2013) – The Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA) has recognized the Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP), the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the University of Virginia Community Credit Union (UVA CCU) for their efforts delivering energy savings to homes and business across the state. The awards will officially be presented tonight at the Charlottesville City Council meeting.
The awards were given through SEEA’s regional Energy Pro3 initiative – a series of convenings and awards that highlight the productivity and progress achieved through energy efficiency programs across the Southeast, showcase the results programs like LEAP have achieved to date, and demonstrate how these efforts are paving the way for sustained economic growth and prosperity in our region.
“Over the past three years, LEAP and the many community-based partnerships that it has successfully nurtured and developed have established energy efficiency as a key driver of economic development, community engagement and quality of life in Virginia,” said Al Christopher, Energy Division Director for the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. “We congratulate LEAP and its partners on their success to date and will continue to support them in their efforts to promote an economically vibrant, energy-secure future for our state.”
LEAP provides a one-stop shop for residents and businesses interested in saving money through energy efficiency upgrades. Currently, LEAP operates programs in Charlottesville and its surrounding counties, as well as the counties that comprise the Northern Virginia Regional Planning District. LEAP’s unique alliance model is based on community-based, public-private partnerships that engage with local governments, realtors, lending institutions, the business community, utilities, policy makers and other stakeholder groups.
The City, County and Credit Union have been invaluable partners contributing to LEAP’s success, including initiatives like PowerSaver Loans, Home Energy Makeover Contests, the Energize250 campaign, Better Business Challenge and their investment of staff and resources to support energy efficiency efforts across the Central Virginia community.
LEAP By the Numbers:
2010: Year LEAP launched
2,000: Number of home energy evaluations (“audits”) completed
1,215: Number of home energy retrofits completed
34: Percentage of all retrofits in SEEA’s 13-city consortium completed by LEAP
$700,000: Savings for LEAP clients annually
$13,000,000: Revenues to Virginia contractors
“Since its launch, LEAP has connected thousands of homeowners with energy savings, built in-state workforce capacity, and expanded local and statewide economic opportunity,” said SEEA President Mandy Mahoney. LEAP’s continued leadership and innovation have transformed the landscape for energy efficiency in Virginia, and their success serves as a model for the region.”
LEAP is part of SEEA’s Southeast Community Consortium – the largest-ever coordinated effort to implement community-based energy efficiency retrofit programs in the Southeast. Collectively, these programs have produced substantial gains for the regional environment and economy, with nearly 10,000 energy audits conducted and almost 6,000 retrofits completed. The Consortium is supported by funding from the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Neighborhood Program, and the Alabama and Virginia State Energy Programs.
Among SEEA’s accomplished network of partners, LEAP has proven itself a standout, thanks in part to their focus on developing and expanding Virginia’s green workforce. Through targeted technical training, business development support, mentoring, quality assurance and informational resources, LEAP has strengthened local workforce capacity and established energy efficiency as an engine for local job creation.
The Energy Pro3 Awards have also been given to the following:
· New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu
· Entergy New Orleans
· The City of New Orleans Utility Committee
· Nashville Mayor Karl Dean
· TVA
· Nashville Electric Service
· JaxMetro Credit Union
· Nexus Energy Center
· The City of Huntsville
· Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs
About Energy Pro3: Productivity, Progress and Prosperity for the Southeast
Energy Pro3 is SEEA’s initiative for presenting the story of energy efficiency and the promise it holds for the Southeast (“energy productivity”), for demonstrating the results the Consortium has achieved over the past three years (“progress”) and for highlighting how the multiple facets of the Consortium’s work continue to pave the way for sustained economic “prosperity” in the Southeast. To date, Energy Pro3includes a report, to be published in October 2013, that will offer an honest assessment of the infrastructure, resources and opportunities that support the deployment of energy efficiency programming, and the approaches that the Consortium has found best suited to the region; a roadshow to six southeastern cities; and a series of awards to recognize the individuals and groups who have significantly advanced energy efficiency programs and results over the past three years.
About the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance
SEEA is a champion driving market transformation in the Southeast’s energy efficiency sector as a convener for collaborative public policy, thought leadership, programs and technical advice. SEEA is a regional energy efficiency organization that serves 11 states in the Southeast, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Visit SEEA online at www.seealliance.org.
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