After struggling to pay a $700 electricity bill last October on East Chattanooga home, Hazel Benford was eager to find a way to cut her monthly utility bills.
The 71-year-old home was damaged in a tornado in 2011 and, even with its upstairs attic cut off, the monthly electric bill usually topped $200 a month to heat or cool the 1,144-square-structure.
When she heard about EPB’s Home Energy Upgrade program from a friend at church, Benford said she jumped at the chance to sign up for the assistance even though she wasn’t sure she would qualify to get any help. In March, work crews from EPB showed up to install new attic and window insulation, heating ducts and a new heating and air conditioning unit as part of a $9,400 improvement of the Fairleigh Street house.
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Green Spaces will conduct a free workshop on ways to cut energy use and bills at 10 a.m. Friday at the The Bethlehem Center, 200 W. 38th Street.
“I can already see a big difference and I feel a lot healthier also,” Benford said Wednesday. “Last month, my light bill was only $125.”