Brittle Power- PARTS 1-3 (+Notes) - Natural Capitalism Solutions

328National Energy Securitypopular Minnesota development), and superinsulation will facilitate the use ofvarious active and passive solar systems and district heating. The park’stheme and reduced costs are expected to attract energy-related firms and tocreate about six thousand new jobs. 125Soft-energy industrial development is not only the prerogative of industrialistsand governments. In Colton, near San Bernardino, California, ValeriePope Ludlum and several other welfare mothers bootstrapped a small federalgrant into a multi-million-dollar-per-year business, hiring neighborhood youthto build and install weatherization and solar equipment. Under this program,the economic and security benefits of using that equipment, and the jobs andincomes that flow from making and selling it, remain in the Black community—astriking example of the power of locally made, locally usable energytechnologies as a tool for community development.FinancingExcellent guides to new approaches for financing energy efficiency andrenewable sources have been published. 126 Investor-owned and public utilities,insurance companies, banks, industries, and private investors are increasinglyeager participants, seeking the high rates of return or the reductions in theirown risks: Denver banks started to give solar loans after Susan Carpenterpointed out that otherwise many people’s utility bills would exceed their mortgagepayments, and the bankers would get stuck with houses nobody couldafford to live in.Municipal programs Minneapolis, Minnesota raised two and three-quartersmillion dollars privately through local banks to start training and financing forhomeowner weatherization programs. A local utility, Minnegasco, handles thepaperwork through its billing system, and gives participants an incentive bonusof ten percent of the loan, up to a hundred dollars. The ten-year loans cost elevenpercent per year, or one point above the city’s cost of capital. The second phaseof the “Energy Bank” program will begin in summer of 1982 with the sale ofnearly seven million dollars in municipal bonds through an underwriter. 127To ensure that the Energy Bank is known and used throughout the city,the Minneapolis Energy Coordination office sends trained organizers intoareas, each of about sixty blocks, to locate a key person on each block whowill take responsibility for being the “inviter” who spreads the word. The”inviters” are trained in weatherization and how to sign up their neighbors.An all-day Saturday workshop is scheduled in each five- or ten-block area withabout seventy-five invitees. After morning instruction, these recruits go homeand do a self-audit, then come back by lunchtime with a list of needed mate-