ENERGY IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Getting Americans to care about fuel consumption and energy conservation turned out to be easy. Right after Hurricane Katrina, when gas prices shot above $3 a gallon and caused fears about energy shortages, the public’s attention was painfully focused. Since then and even as the price has dropped, energy has been a hot topic. It will continue to be so in January when Maine lawmakers return to Augusta.

One of the first bills they will face is wide-ranging energy legislation from Gov. John Baldacci. While still being written, the bill is expected to focus on conservation and efficiency – the two areas where the state can play a role in the absence of federal fixes.

The governor has also said he will call lawmakers into a special session if necessary to ensure that as many Mainers as need it get financial help from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Because Congress has so far failed to boost federal support for the program, states will have to put in more money to ensure that homes remain heated. Heating costs are expected to be 47 percent higher than last year. Last year, the program served 46,450 families with an average fuel benefit of $478.

Maine received $31.8 million in LIHEAP funding in 2005. Given the added fuel costs, the federal total would need to be $77.6 million to have the same benefit, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Fortunately, lawmakers from both parties say they support appropriating more state money to add to the LIHEAP program. Lawmakers have wisely rejected the New Hampshire model of taking funds from the state’s weatherization program to fund LIHEAP. This is shortsighted. Weatherizing houses ensures they will use less heat.

With a push from the governor’s office, the state’s Operation Keep ME Warm hopes to weatherize 3,000 homes by Nov. 15. During the last weekend in October, 1,823 homes were weatherized by community volunteers. Working in teams of three, caulking, insulation and other weatherization materials were installed in the homes of elderly and disabled citizens who are unable to do the work themselves.

The Maine Commission for Community Service hopes to weatherize most of the remaining eligible homes over this long holiday weekend. Volunteers are still needed in this region. In Penobscot County, contact Jennifer Giosia at Penquis CAP at 973-3629 or jgiosia@penquiscap.org. In Hancock County, contact Rob Gaiser at the American Red Cross at 667-4737 or gaiserr@verizon.net. In Somerset County contact Wanda Steward at 859-1542 at Kennebec Valley Community Action or wandas@kvcap.org.

The governor has also established a charitable fuel fund. He hopes to raise $10 million, half of it through charitable contributions and half from a reallocation of state funds, which he will ask lawmakers to approve in January.

Other groups will focus on energy as well. Environment Maine, for example, plans to work on legislation to require more efficient furnaces and boilers in homes and to provide state funds to towns to help them promote energy- efficient building codes that were approved during the last session.

The immediate task is to ensure that the state’s least fortunate can keep the heat on this winter. The longer-term challenge is to promote the efficient use of energy and to encourage the production of alternative energy sources.