Home Uplift Program

Home Uplift Program is sponsored by EPB and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Provides free home energy upgrades to qualifying homes, aiming to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs.

Over the past two decades, new electric technologies, appliance standards, and increased energy efficiency requirements in state and local building codes have dramatically lowered residential energy consumption and increased the comfort and health found in family homes across the Tennessee Valley.

Unfortunately, these benefits have flowed primarily to homeowners with the disposable income to take advantage of technological advances and the utility programs that promote their use. Residents in the Southeast face historically high rates of poverty, and low-income families often live in homes that are inefficient, uncomfortable, and, in many cases, unhealthy for occupants.

Despite the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) low residential energy rates ranking in the top quartile nationally, disproportionately high electricity usage represents an even greater burden to low-income families who spend a greater proportion of their resources on electricity.

Energy efficiency and weatherization measures can help to lower energy bills for low-income households, and such have also been proven to improve indoor air quality, safety, and comfort, thereby positively impacting human health. TVA created the Home Uplift Program to address the significant energy efficiency and weatherization needs for low-income households in Tennessee and across the Tennessee Valley.

TVA has contributed funding to the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga (EPB), Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB), Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW), and Nashville Electric Service (NES) to seed their Home Uplift Programs. TVA has also partnered with Pathway Lending to administer funds to Rural Home Uplift projects.

The Office of Energy Programs (OEP) has since leveraged TVA’s Home Uplift Program and partnered with local power companies (LPCs) to invest in the vision to create a sustainable, quality program to increase energy efficiency weatherization for low-income families in Tennessee. TDEC OEP provided grants of $1. 25 million to EPB, KUB, MLGW, & NES to extend the reach of their Home Uplift Programs.

This funding was used to cover the costs of energy efficiency and weatherization measures for limited income homeowners that are customers in their respective service areas. TVA is also providing implementation services and administrative support to EPB, KUB, and NES. Archived content is provided for reference purposes only and is not maintained to current accessibility standards.

TDEC OEP worked with Three 3 to complete the report, Impacts of Weatherization on Temperature, Humidity, And Occupant Well-Being in the Tennessee Valley (archive) , an indoor environmental quality evaluation conducted on TVA’s Home Uplift weatherization program from 2021-2022 to measure the impacts of weatherization on indoor temperature and relative humidity in addition to occupant comfort, health, and well-being.

The results of this evaluation indicate that weatherization programs could provide meaningful benefits for occupants by reducing indoor exposures to extreme hot and cold temperatures, particularly for those with a chronic health condition that is exacerbated by extreme temperatures, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or arthritis.

Customers who qualified for the Home Uplift Program received valuable energy efficiency upgrades. In addition to saving money on their energy bills, participants also reported improvements in the comfort and air quality of their homes.

The energy efficiency upgrades have included 1108 window replacements, 169 door replacements, 232 HVAC cleaning and tuning/replacements, 226 attic insulation repair/replacements, 198 duct sealing/replacements, 252 air sealing repairs, 88 heat pump water heaters, 21 refrigerators, and 1070 LED bulbs. “I am amazed at how much the upgrades have affected the quality and comfort of my life as well as the monthly savings.

” - EPB Homeowner Deirdra Chambliss "Home Uplift has changed my whole life and quality of living." - EPB Homeowner Sabrina Anderson