Energize Olympia is going regional after the Olympia City Council signed an interlocal agreement on Jan. 14 to support the implementation of the 2025 Energize Thurston campaign.
Olympia is spearheading a partnership with Thurston County, Tumwater, Lacey and Tenino to offer discounted and subsidized installations of energy-efficient heat pumps nationwide.
The new Energize Thurston program builds upon the city's successful Energize Olympia initiative and expands it to benefit residents throughout the county.
"It is a big deal that we are regionalizing our city's program — Energize Olympia is Energize Thurston," said Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne.
He thanked the city staff and Dr. Pamela Braff, the city's Climate Program manager, for the work on regionalizing the program and making Olympia lead the way.
"I am happy that we have been able to do that not only for our city but for our county," the mayor added.
Dominic Jones, the city's Building Decarbonization Program manager, outlined plans for the campaign, which is set to launch in March.
Energize Thurston will offer discounts and subsidies for installing energy-efficient, ducted and ductless heat pump heating and cooling, as well as heat pump water heaters throughout Thurston County.
Jones added that the Energized Thurston team will host community workshops and information sessions in the coming weeks to educate residents and businesses about the program's offerings and eligibility requirements.
Interested participants can also visit the program's website at EnergizeThurston.org to learn more and sign up for updates.
Energize Thurston will offer two participant pathways:
Under the agreement, Olympia will act as contract manager and conduct all contracting responsibilities for designing and printing Energize Thurston marketing materials, as well ass overseeing the procurement process to select vendors, and managing the resulting contracts.
Olympia's responsibilities will involve monitoring contractor compliance, meeting fiscal conditions, and implementing corrective actions as needed.
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ChuckCross
With the push to convert to electricity, it is a pure shame that the general public has no opportunity to purchase stock in Puget Sound Energy.
Wednesday, January 22 Report this
Yeti1981
The one caveat should be that incentives and rebates should be built in to the program. Consumers don't have the energy or time to go look for those things, and they shouldn't have to. If the state, counties, and cities are going to force electrification on everyone, they should make all the effort to make that transition not so costly or even free (I know it's not really free) to the consumer.
Wednesday, January 22 Report this
Freedom1
Lots of paperwork and no action. I've applied for these programs before.
Monday, January 27 Report this