Year in Review

At risk of cliche, 2020 was an unprecedented year. Community Energy Project’s operations were disrupted with the transition to remote working due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Energy savings as a result of reduced employees commuting and our office’s vacancy, were far outweighed by the social and economic injustices to the low-income, frontline communities that CEP serves. CEP saw these impacts on our clients and quickly embraced our role as an essential service to continue lessening the energy and health burdens.

With funding from Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO), CEP finished a successful year of programming. We adapted marketing and outreach efforts to continue reaching communities of color and low-income households, which led to successes, such as installing a new record, 40 heat pump water heaters! Each unit will save that household a conservative $150 and 1,500 kWh of electricity annually. CEP taught 3 virtual workshops on do-it-yourself attic insulation and developed content for a new suite of educational tools around how to self-install a heat pump water heater. We also installed 25 smart thermostats and audited 24 homes with Home Energy Scores. 

Finally, disruptions to on-the-ground work provided an opportunity for projections and planning. Funding support from ETO enabled CEP to forge new partnerships, apply for complementary funding, and support other community based organizations. It also allowed CEP to explore and reflect on the data from our own clients. In one deep-dive analysis of Home Energy Score data, CEP found that low-income households are 3 times more likely to still heat with oil, and are overall, 15% less efficient than their neighbors. As you’d expect, those efficiency deficiencies were concentrated in older, lower performing furnaces and water heaters compounded by the lack of insulation in walls, attics, and crawl spaces. Projecting forward to a brighter 2021, CEP worked with ETO to launch the Community Partner Funding programming. These new funds will lead to new opportunities in 2021 to serve clients with an enhanced energy audit, attic insulation, and more direct install services such as heat pump water heaters, ductless heat pumps, and smart thermostats. 

2020 made it clear that we live in uncertain and changing times. CEP will continue to be on the frontlines of ensuring a just energy transition.

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