Leveraging Assets for Self-sufficiency through Energy Resources

October 5, 2005

Action, Inc. will help implement a $1,100,000 Residential Energy Assistance Challenge (REACH) grant to help low-income households become energy self sufficient. The grant was awarded to Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Action is one of two lead agencies that will implement the program in Massachusetts.

Called the LASER Program (Leveraging Assets for Self-sufficiency through Energy Resources), Action demonstrates a holistic approach to helping low-income households become energy self-sufficient. This initiative uses experience gained from the past three years to build long-term gains in self-sufficiency for approximately 1650 client households during the 3-year course of the program. For this grant, LASER will focus on expanding utility arrearage forgiveness programs to more utility companies, including municipals, and restoring the value of utility discounts for low-income customers.

The REACH grant has been critical to the community action agencies' (CAAs) ability to leverage tens of thousands of dollars in resources to assist low-income ratepayers to afford their energy bills. The grant has enabled the CAAs to hire case managers who work closely with LASER clients unable to pay high (and rising) utility bills. LASER caseworkers and clients together develop a plan to move toward energy self-sufficiency.

In order to assess the project's prospects for replication, it was launched in two community action agencies based in strikingly different service areas: Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (ABCD) in the urban core of Boston; and Action, Inc., in a small city and surrounding exurban communities, with four diverse agencies added in Year Two. The model will be extended to a total of eight CAPS in Massachusetts, enrolling a total of 1650 consumers by the end of Year three. With a new REACH grant, the model can be extended to a total of eight CAAS in Massachusetts.

For more information contact Rita Carvalho, Action, Inc. 47 Washington Street, Gloucester, MA 01930 Tel. 978.283.2131