Through our core program, Get Your GreenBack Tompkins provides energy advising to help connect Tompkins County residents to information, programs, incentives and local contractors that can help them reduce energy use, save money, and switch to renewable energy.
The program is free. While we focus our efforts on helping households with limited income, everyone is eligible for free energy advising. We also provide advising to small businesses and non-profits. This program is run by staff and supported by volunteer Energy Navigators. Outside of Tompkins County, the program is offered through our sister program Smart Energy Choices.
Our staff Energy Advisors and volunteer Energy Navigators provide unbiased information to help residents and businesses learn about and take advantage of programs and incentives to reduce energy use and adopt clean energy technology. We do not have a financial stake in your decision. We can help connect people and organizations to contractors and provide applications and links to programs and ongoing support so people can move from interest to action. Our energy advising specifically focuses on energy efficiency, renewable heating, and solar for both residents and organizations, as well as electric vehicles.
Helping People & Warming Feet
With the help of an educator from Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, over the course of summer 2017, Fran, 75, and Don, 89, who are both retired, took advantage of a number of free energy-related programs which have greatly contributed to their home’s comfort, as well as to its safety and lower energy bills. Fran said her feet could tell the difference. “I can walk in my stocking feet and not have my slippers on.”
Read the full story here.
Here are some of the things we can help with:
Learning about the importance and value of an energy audit (also called an energy assessment) and how to access one at no cost to you
Learning about incentive and financing programs for households of all income levels, and providing applications and other material where appropriate
Providing lists of local clean energy contractors that participate in NYSERDA and other programs related to insulation, air sealing, heat pumps, pellet stoves, and solar power
Understanding your energy bills, and identifying energy hogs and DIY actions to address some of these guzzlers
Conducting home visits and providing materials at no cost to you to reduce your energy use and improve your comfort, such as plastic film for drafty windows, rope caulk, or door sweeps, and helping you learn how to install them
Understanding your energy audit report or proposals for energy improvements.
Sharing information on ways to address concerns about contractor performance.
What we don’t do:
Tell you which contractor or company is the “best”
Give opinions on pricing
Give legal or tax advice
Interested?
Use the button below to request energy advising, or contact Karim Beers, Get Your GreenBack Tompkins Coordinator, at [email protected].
Background
Get Your GreenBack Tompkins’ Energy Advising program was created in 2016 based on evidence from around the country that showed that impartial, free, and personalized energy advising to local residents and organizations was one of the most successful approaches to supporting people to take action.
Making investments in energy efficiency, renewable heating and solar can be costly, and involve a number of steps, from learning about options, to getting quotes, to finding incentives and financing. Our Energy Advising program is designed to help people every step of the way.
