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More Sample Grant Proposals |
Sample Grant Proposal: Low-Income Wind Energy Project
3
when a household’s heating system is in such bad shape that it must be replaced. However, such
conversions are expensive and must be balanced with the need for energy assistance.
A large conversion program was announced in June 2003 by Puget Sound Energy (PSE), the
largest utility in the state. PSE estimates that it will convert between 20,000 and 25,000
households from electric to gas. Given that the number of all electric households in Washington
was placed at 1.2 million by the 2000 US Census, even a “large” program is a drop in the bucket.
The program is incentive-based, with $150 rebates on furnaces, $25 on gas heaters and free
hook-ups. However a $175 incentive on a conversion that may cost $1500 to $2000 is too small
to make a difference to many low-income families. Also, 73% of low-income families are
renters. Typically, they are responsible for utility bills, so there is little incentive for landlords to
convert rental units to gas heat.
Even if all low-income
households could be converted
to gas heat, the problem would
not be solved: PSE just raised
gas prices 18% in March 2003.
More and more, the gas and
electric markets have become
intertwined in Washington.
Most of the new electric
generation plants in
Washington are gas-fired. As a
result, natural gas prices have
themselves become more
volatile, and conversion to gas
heat no longer provides the
low-cost, stable utility bills that
it once did. Increasingly, the
cost of natural gas is linked to the cost of electricity. Figure 2 shows how natural gas prices at
the Sumas Hub in Washington State have begun to track area electric prices.
Even as residential energy costs are rising, Washington’s employment outlook is darkening. A
US Bureau of Labor Statistics report for April 2003 shows Washington with the second highest
unemployment rate (7.3%) of any state. The national rate for the same period was 6.0%.
Washington is being particularly hard hit by the loss of high-paying jobs at Boeing. Because of
cut-backs in the airline industry since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Boeing has
been forced to lay-off 33,890 workers over the past 19 months and plans further cuts (Seattle P-I,
6.20.03). Boeing is also facing stiffer competition. On June 20, 2003 the AP reported,
“European plane manufacturer Airbus won a $5.1 billion order for up to 32 wide-body planes
from Gulf carrier Qatar Airways yesterday, snatching another deal from Boeing….Until last
week, the airline was considering its first purchase of Boeing planes.” Because Boeing is such a
large employer in the Puget Sound area, the loss of these high-paying jobs has a negative ripple
effect throughout the area.
