OPINION | All Washington Communities Need Energy Navigators Like We Have in Beacon Hill

by Ivan Montes

How often do you walk out of a grocery store, see someone canvassing or tabling outside, and then hustle the other way to try to avoid having to engage with them? I don't blame you. I've done that too.

But now I'm the guy in front of your grocery store with a clipboard. Honestly, it's often the best place to reach people. I don't need you to sign anything, but I do want you to have a healthy home and more affordable energy bills. And I can connect you to often free and low-cost ways to get some basic home improvements through programs you probably never knew existed.

If an effort at the Washington State Legislature called the Energy Upgrade Navigator Program is passed this session, there will be more people like me out connecting community members across Washington State to an even bigger realm of new home-improvement upgrades. That will be vital, because navigating the various rebates and assistance can be a maze. Community outreach is the difference between smart government efforts on the books, and smart government efforts actually changing lives.

You might ask what a healthy home even means. To me, it means a home without leaky doors and windows that let in cold air and moisture, issues that can cause mold and raise utility bills. It means a home with insulation to save more money on energy bills. And it also means a home that doesn't burn polluting gas or oil.

Most of the old homes in our area have gas furnaces, and some still have oil heaters. But those release air toxins that are harmful to health and the climate. If you have a gas stove for cooking, it emits chemical pollutants right into your kitchen that increase asthma risk and other respiratory problems, especially for children. In fact, gas-burning equipment can make the air inside your home more polluted than the air outside your home.

If you're reading this and wondering why you're just hearing about it now, you're not alone. The gas industry hasn't made a point of telling us, and busy families aren't out doing investigative research, much less having the time or wherewithal to figure out or access the solutions.

I know from my own family just how challenging and intimidating any bureaucracy can be. My parents, who came here from Mexico, relied on my sister to sit at the kitchen table and help them with bank forms or any paperwork in English. They were afraid to make any kind of mistake.

This is the case with many people I speak with in our community today. They need someone who is meeting them where they are to speak with about home health issues, discuss options for solutions, and get them signed up for programs that can deliver the improvements. Otherwise, it's not going to happen.

The kinds of home upgrades the Energy Upgrade Navigator Program is designed to connect people with include switching from inefficient gas furnaces and water heaters to electric heat pump versions that can provide air conditioning too. It will also enable access to electric induction stoves that can get polluting gas out of the kitchen.

It's critical that funding availability for these kinds of clean and much more energy-efficient technologies is prioritized for communities like ours, with many families living on lower incomes in older homes. But just earmarking funding is not closing the gap by itself, nor is it achieving environmental justice.

I talk to so many older residents who can't access great programs because they don't have or use a computer, or because they don't have a printer and a form has to be filled out on paper. I talk to residents who can't read about or apply for programs because materials are only in English. Across the board, everyone I talk to just wants to get it right, and just needs someone to reach out to them.

Our elected officials need to get it right, too. Expanding community outreach is a core component of the Energy Upgrade Navigator Program, and it includes other important equity-focused measures as well, like supporting women- and minority-owned businesses as residents are connected with contractors.

If there's any public official out there who's still unsure, you know where to find me — at the grocery stores, libraries, PTA meetings, and senior centers across Beacon Hill.

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The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the contributors on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the Emerald or official policies of the Emerald.

Ivan Montes is a Weatherization and Environmental Justice Navigator with El Centro de la Raza. In this role, he meets with community members across Beacon Hill to connect them to energy-efficiency and electrification upgrades so they can be safe and healthy in their homes.

📸 Featured Image: Photo via Aree_S/Shutterstock.com