Danville leaders discuss energy solutions

By Denice Thibodeau

Published: December 4, 2008

Many organizations in the Danville area are wrestling with plans to help the elderly, disabled and poor pay their utility bills this winter, and a group of about 20 concerned people met Thursday night to talk about ways to implement those plans.

Clarence Dickerson, director of Piedmont Independent Living Center, issued the invitations and gathered the group at the Institute for Advanced Learning & Research.

Dickerson has long been an advocate for the disabled, and said he has seen increased numbers of his clients having problems making their utility bill payments. Dickerson said he would like to see programs that would help provide energy upgrades on the older homes many of his clients rent, as well as expand education programs that will teach people how to budget for higher winter heating costs.

He suggested evaluating homes and getting together with the landlords to work out ways to insulate attics, replace windows and doors with air gaps and generally fix the worst of the energy problems in those homes.

Dickerson said his research indicates that $2,000-$4,000 in home improvements could cut utility bills as much as 70 percent.

Delegate Danny Marshall, R-Danville, noted that a big part of such a program would have to be education, because tenants often don’t take utility costs into account when they decide how much they can afford for rent.

“People need to understand that utilities are part of the cost of living in that house,” he said.

Gary Jones, an energy auditor with Piedmont Energy Options, said simply blowing insulation into an attic, replacing a couple of windows and a door or two would cost about $2,000 in many homes, and would cut utility costs as much as 50 percent.

He noted that getting to the cause of the huge bills is necessary.

“Clarence (Dickerson) has people come to him with $1,000 bills and he pulls strings to pay them,” Jones said. “But two or three months later, they are back because the cause hasn’t been fixed.”

Marshall said a long-term solution would be better than handing over the money for one month’s worth of help.

He suggested submitting a business plan for the project to the Danville Regional Foundation and said the plan should include budgeting classes for tenants, a cost analysis on making homes more energy efficient and a proposal for how the work would be done.

Marshall also suggested training people who are currently unemployed in building trades and having them do the work.

Joe King, assistant city manager of Utilities, said he is working on a plan for a pilot program to upgrade some homes in Danville and hopes to have it running in the next few months.

Patrick Jinks, executive director of United Way, said he was pleased with the ideas that addressed the root problem, rather than just focusing on paying the utility bills.

“The problem is not that people aren’t paying their utility bills,” he said, “it’s that those people are poor.”

Contact Denice Thibodeau at or (434) 791-7985.