The Association of Energy Conservation Professionals (AECP) is actually two organizations:
- AECP is a 501(c)(6) non-profit trade association that serves as a support and resource group for the Virginia Weatherization Assistance Program.
- The Association of Energy Conservation Professionals/Educational Service (AECP/ES) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit energy education organization that provides a variety of energy education to the general public.
Who We Are. For over 35 years, the Association of Energy Conservation Professionals (AECP) has served as a respected nonprofit committed to advancing energy justice through weatherization. We are primarily membership-funded and provide, promote, and advocate for energy conservation through the federal Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) and income-qualifying programs like the Housing Innovation Energy Efficiency (HIEE) Weatherization Deferral and Repair (WDR) program. AECP helps members connect with opportunities to advance their missions, and engages the general public and key stakeholders to increase awareness of weatherization. As the 501(c)(6) trade association representing all 14 WAP providers across Virginia, we believe everyone should have access to affordable utility bills and healthy homes.
Advocacy. Since our founding, AECP’s advocacy efforts have resulted in thousands more vulnerable households receiving life and cost-saving repairs. We work to share the importance of weatherization, as well as identifying additional diversified funding sources to enable the WAP network and our members to better serve Virginians across the Commonwealth.
Mid-1990s: AECP led advocacy efforts to transfer 15% of Virginia’s annual Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding to Virginia’s WAP network. This has translated into approximately an additional $330M in WAP funding, enabling roughly 31,000 MORE homes to be served with weatherization.
2015: AECP, along with many advocacy partners, has supported the advancement of utility-sponsored weatherization programs. This has resulted in a 25x increase in utility funding from 2015 levels, estimated to have served another 25,000 MORE households than would have been possible through federal funds alone.
2021: AECP successfully advocated for the establishment of the Weatherization Deferral Repair (WDR) program, funded through HIEE. Since then, roughly $30M has been spent to prepare more than 2,300 households for weatherization services and counting, preventing nearly 1 in 5 households that apply for weatherization from being deferred due to home repair needs.
Additionally, we acted as the plaintiff in the lawsuit to direct Virginia to rejoin RGGI, working in concert with other nonprofits to advocate for the importance of RGGI and the HIEE programs.
Our Objective. We believe now is the time to establish a state-funded WAP program using RGGI funds that will make the Virginia WAP network more resilient to: (1) uncertainties around federal funding for WAP, and (2) increasing material and labor costs, resulting in fewer energy-saving measures per home. This will create more opportunities to engage and expand Virginia’s diverse network of private weatherization and trade contractors to serve their local communities. A state-funded WAP program, funded through HIEE at the rate of $25M per year, will enable the WAP network to serve existing WAP clients with deeper energy retrofits, resulting in more energy savings, and serve an additional 1,500 households each year. Support from Adiuvans would increase our operational capacity to engage and educate decision-makers on the foundational importance of weatherization and how RGGI can support this critical need, and advocate for new programs and services to expand the reach and rate that our members can serve disadvantaged communities throughout Virginia.
We appreciate your time and interest in our organization and look forward to further collaborations.