Georgia City Offers Energy-Efficiency Rebates to Homes and Small Businesses

Residents of Covington, Georgia are getting some assistance from the city to help them reduce utility bill costs.

In light of extreme summer and winter temperatures over the last few years — and the high utility bills that have resulted — the city is offering residential and small business customers the opportunity to make energy-efficient improvements at a discount while financing the majority of costs using their utility bills.

Covington is providing $116,501 in rebates for qualifying energy efficiency improvements, including heating and air conditioning units, appliances, hot water heaters, insulation, air, and duct sealing, and water heater blankets. To qualify for rebates, customers must first have an energy audit performed — which is itself eligible for a 50 percent discount — to identify which improvements will help customers save the most energy.

The city is also setting aside $150,000 for interest-free on-bill financing, which will allow eligible improvements to be paid off over time through small monthly payments on customers’ utility bills. The payments will be roughly equal to the amount of money the improvements are expected to save, meaning customers shouldn’t see an increase in their utility bills while they pay off their improvements. On-bill financing will be charged over five years at zero percent interest with a $3 monthly fee.

To qualify for rebates and on-bill financing, customers must be current on utility payments. To apply for rebates and on-bill financing, customers need to fill out an application from the city by contacting Randy Conner at 678.342.3177 or rconner@cityofcovington.org.

Sources

City Can Give Money for Energy Efficient Improvements, The Covington News, Sept. 14, 2011.