Trenton, NJ – The Energy Efficiency Alliance of New Jersey (EEA-NJ), a trade organization for energy efficiency businesses in New Jersey, is urging the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) to maintain support for whole house approaches to energy efficiency in budget deliberations, in testimony delivered during the Board’s May 28 Public Hearing and in formal comments submitted by the June 6 deadline.

The proposed fiscal year 25-26 budget for the Board’s Clean Energy Program, which oversees several energy efficiency and clean energy initiatives, includes a stipulation to “back-burner” the Whole House Pilot Program, started in 2022 to support health, safe and energy-efficient housing in Trenton’s low-income communities. Whole house approaches are vital to getting energy efficiency services to households struggling with high utility bills.

Whole house energy efficiency programs address structural and weatherization barriers that become increasingly more severe and expensive the longer they’re left unaddressed, such as moisture damage, lead paint, outdated electrical wiring and failing roofs — and prevent many low-income families from accessing energy efficiency services and savings.

“EEA-NJ recognizes the importance of ensuring that programs operate efficiently and effectively,” EEA-NJ Executive Director Jeaneen Zappa said ahead of the hearing. “We commend the BPU’s efforts to scrutinize all expenditures of ratepayer dollars.”

“However—we also believe that the Board has the power and authority to leverage the demonstrated value of whole house approaches and incorporate them in lasting ways into the state’s energy efficiency programming. Whole house approaches create healthier, safer, more energy-efficient homes in the communities that need them most, while supporting economic development and job creation in New Jersey’s energy efficiency industry.”

“New Jersey faces a critical need. With aging housing stock and an estimated 35% of households qualifying as low-income, tackling hard challenges now is imperative to ensure affordability and resilience.”

The whole house approaches exemplified in the Trenton Pilot Program—and in neighboring Pennsylvania’s successful Whole-Home Repairs Program—seek to address the myriad factors that regularly prevent homes from participating in cost-cutting weatherization programs. By carrying out critical repairs and weatherization, whole house programs address safety risks, improve occupant health, support aging in place, stop continued structural deterioration that leads to abandonment and condemnation, keep families in homes and houses on property tax rolls, lessen high energy burdens for occupants, and deliver cost savings for both the individual ratepayer and for the collective group of utility customers. For the past decade, incorporating whole house approaches has steadily gained adoption as best practice across the weatherization industry and the country.

“We urge the NJBPU to incorporate whole house approaches and keep whole house programming in the FY26 budget for the Clean Energy Program,” Jeaneen Zappa continued. “Across the Garden State’s energy efficiency efforts—from currently underway Triennium 3 programs to NJBPU’s low-income-focused Comfort Partners programs—whole house approaches are sadly lacking. The Pilot Program created a much-needed foray into this proven, effective approach to energy efficiency, and we support its ongoing inclusion in NJBPU programming and budgeting.”

About EEA-NJ and KEEA

The Energy Efficiency Alliance of New Jersey (EEA-NJ) and the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance are companion 501(c)6 trade associations representing more than 70 member businesses that do energy efficiency work in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or both. KEEA and EEA-NJ engage with legislative and regulatory bodies to educate decision-makers on the benefits of energy efficiency.

KEEA & EEA-NJ work in partnership with the Energy Efficiency Alliance, a companion 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to energy efficiency education and outreach.