Property Owners in Washington County "Turning Down Millions of Dollars," Says South County Community Action CEO

WAKEFIELD -- Owners of hundreds of homes in Washington County are “turning down millions of dollars” in energy savings because they haven’t responded to South County Community Action’s requests to do free weatherization work on their properties, President and CEO Joseph R. DeSantis announced today.

“We have a file of more than 200 properties that could benefit from our program, and yet go without these improvements because the owners are simply not calling us,” DeSantis explained. “All we need is a signature, and we can get moving on this work, which will save them money on installation costs and lower their tenants’ energy bills.”

South County Community Action Agency provides installation of whole-house insulation, windows and doors, pipe wrap, replacement of light bulbs, refrigerators, and window air conditioners, all at no charge to the owners of qualified properties.

“It’s no surprise that some people think this sounds too good to be true, but in this case, it is true,” DeSantis said. “We update and improve local homes to ensure higher energy efficiency and lower bills, and we charge property owners nothing for it.”

Beginning this week, South County Community Action will be contacting owners of local properties who have previously received an offer for weatherization services but have not replied, explained DeSantis.

“Above all, we want to reassure the owners that they retain all of their rights to manage their properties. While they agree not to raise rental fees based on the work we do, they may still change the rent structure because of higher taxes or other factors,” DeSantis said. “We also ask them to agree to rent to qualified tenants for two years as part of the program -- and because tenants are saving on their utility bills, they’re much more likely to be able to afford their rent.”

DeSantis also explained that property owners who have participated in the Weatherization program have all had positive things to say about it.

“Once they sign the agreement with us, these owners have all found, to a person, that South County Community Action is here to help them and their tenants -- and that we follow through on the commitment we are making,” he said. “When you consider the time and effort that we make to coordinate contractors and meet the strict standards for our program, it’s really a very small request that we’re making of the property owners.”

South County Community Action’s Weatherization program is located at 415 Tower Hill Road in North Kingstown. For more information, call (401) 789-3016, ext. 2306 or visit www.sccainc.org