City Joins Focus on Energy, Xcel Energy for Mayor’s Home Energy Challenge

La Crosse – City of La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat wants his constituents to save money and reduce energy waste, a desire that led to Monday’s launch of the Mayor’s Home Energy Challenge.

Through the Challenge, the first 100 homeowners who sign up can receive added incentives from the City of La Crosse when they make energy-efficient changes in their home through the FOCUS ON ENERGY® Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program. Those bonus incentives are added to the regular incentives offered by Focus on Energy and Xcel Energy through the program, meaning La Crosse homeowners and landlords now have up to $4,100 in incentives available to them to help pay for energy-efficient upgrades.

“We were really interested in trying to combine our neighborhood revitalization program with an energy efficiency program. We’ve talked about it for several years,” Kabat said. “What we’re doing here is for the City to offer a small incentive to get people over the top as far as wanting to make that up-front investment.”

Representatives from Xcel Energy and Focus on Energy joined Mayor Kabat for the announcement, along with local state lawmakers and business partners.

Casey and Sonja Meehan hosted Monday morning’s launch event at their home. The couple has taken advantage of several Focus on Energy programs, including Home Performance with ENERGY STAR.

“Our home was built in the 1920s and still had the original insulation in the attic [when we bought it in 2014], so it was really cold in the winter. After we had the work done, we noticed right away that the temperature in the house was way more comfortable,” Casey Meehan said. “In addition to making our house livable, we knew that the improvements were going to save us money in the long run as we wouldn’t be using as much heat. We also felt it was simply the right thing to do from an environmental standpoint. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without the Focus on Energy grant and the money from Xcel, as well. That really made the deal for us. I think [my wife and I] would both encourage people to take advantage of these deals.”

Mayor Kabat says, if the City accomplishes its goal of 100 homes, it will reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 290 metrics tons per year – which is the equivalent of 317,676 pounds of coal burned or taking 62 vehicles off the road.

“That’s a really great investment in our community and our planet,” Kabat said.

City officials say they had roughly 50 calls from homeowners inquiring about the incentives within a few hours of the program’s launch Monday morning.

Learn more about the campaign at the Mayor’s Home Energy Challenge website.

About Focus on Energy
Focus on Energy is Wisconsin utilities' statewide energy efficiency and renewable resource program funded by the state's investor-owned energy utilities and participating municipal and electric cooperative utilities. Focus on Energy works with eligible Wisconsin residents and businesses to install cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Focus on Energy information, resources and financial incentives help to implement projects that otherwise would not be completed. Its efforts help Wisconsin residents and businesses manage rising energy costs, promote in-state economic development, protect our environment and control Wisconsin's growing demand for electricity and natural gas. For more information call 800.762.7077 or visit www.focusonenergy.com.