Big Plans for Jobs and Energy Savings by Milwaukee Energy Efficiency
The Center on Wisconsin Strategy, in cooperation with local political, labor, business, and community leaders, is organizing a large building-energy efficiency project in Milwaukee. Milwaukee Energy Efficiency (Me2) will invest $500 million in private capital to retrofit as many of the city's residential, commercial, and institutional buildings as possible, leading to a significant reduction in overall energy use, corresponding cost savings, and job creation in the city’s underserved communities.
The Center on Wisconsin Strategy, in cooperation with local political, labor, business, and community leaders, is organizing a large building-energy efficiency project in Milwaukee, WI - Milwaukee Energy Efficiency, or Me2. Me2 aims to retrofit as many of the city's residential, commercial, and institutional buildings as possible, leading to a significant reduction in overall energy use, and corresponding cost savings. It will employ up to $500 million in private capital, to be paid back via charges on participants' energy- or water-utility bills. The program will be designed so that building occupants save more in energy costs than they spend for retrofits. Me2 will train and employ Milwaukee residents of underserved communities to do much of the work, estimated at up to 7,000 person-years for efficiency-measure installation.
Excerpted from Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities by Green for All, the Apollo Alliance, Center for American Progress, and Center on Wisconsin Strategy. Published March 2008
