Agencies ECW Letter

[ECW LETTER HEAD]

[DATE]

[RECIPIENT ADDRESS]

Dear Mr/s. __________:

The Energy Center of Wisconsin is proud to be a part of the team evaluating the Weatherization Assistance Program, and we look forward to working with you and your peers in the weatherization community.

The Energy Center will serve as the evaluation team’s single point of contact for state offices and local agencies in an effort to make the evaluation process as smooth as possible for you. We have assigned single case manager for each state office and that state’s agencies. This person will serve as a resource for you, answer your questions about the evaluation, and keep your interaction with the evaluation process as smooth as possible. You will receive an email soon with the first data request and contact information for your case manager.

Attached are two documents we created to give you additional context for the evaluation. You will find Frequently Asked Questions and a list of the next steps in the data collection process.

The evaluation will require fairly extensive data collection from local agencies. We completely understand that this evaluation coincides with an unprecedented period in the history of low-income weatherization as local agencies face substantial demands and goals associated with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Our team will do everything possible to minimize the burden this evaluation will place on your agency’s staff. The extra resources provided to the weatherization community by the Recovery Act are also allowing this evaluation to proceed. It is important to capitalize on the opportunity presented by this funding and the support of the current administration to conduct this much-needed evaluation.

[SPECIFIC LANGUAGE – NON-SAMPLED AGENCIES]

All local agencies will be asked to provide information on the number of weatherized units in selected program years, quality control processes, client education, crew training, funding sources and expenditures.

[SPECIFIC LANGUAGE - SAMPLED AGENCIES]

All local agencies will be asked to provide information on the number of weatherized units in selected program years, quality control processes, client education, crew training, funding sources and expenditures.

Your agency is one of the 400 agencies that have been selected to participate in a more extensive data collection effort, including the collection of utility billing histories for a sample of weatherized homes. A subset of the group of 400 will be selected to participate in special metering and other technical studies. The information provided by sampled agencies will lead to a better understanding of the impact the Weatherization Assistance Program is having nationwide. Participation by sampled agencies is essential to the success of the evaluation.

All data collection forms will be made available online and local agencies will be encouraged to submit information using the online format. Additional options will be made available to make it as easy as possible for local agencies to submit the requested data.

I thank you in advance for your cooperation with this effort. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Regards,

[INGO BENSCH SIGNATURE]