Ensuring that every home is weatherized and equipped with energy-efficient systems should not only be a possibility, but a reality for all. Community Assistance Programs (CAPs), such as West CAP, play a vital role in enabling low-income communities to access these essential upgrades, fostering fair and equitable advancements in energy conservation that benefit both finances and the environment.

Join Peter Kilde, executive director of West CAP, as he guides us through the array of weatherization and energy assistance initiatives available, shedding light on the successes and hurdles encountered by CAPs in this episode of the Rise Up Podcast.

Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) information and application: https://energyandhousing.wi.gov/Pages/AgencyResources/energy-assistance.aspx

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Rise Up Podcast: https://www.riseupmidwest.org

The Energy Fair: https://www.theenergyfair.org

The MREA: https://www.midwestrenew.org

Email: Info@midwestrenew.org

0:00 Peter Kilde Introduction and Bio

5:53 What are CAP agencies?

7:53 Services provided by CAP agencies

11:08 Exciting innovations and programs

14:08 Weatherization Assistance Program

18:33 Weatherization process

20:54 Energy assistance

22:49 West CAP successes and challenges

32:01 Energy efficiency and incentives

35:22 Growing opportunity in energy efficiency

39:24 Magic wand solutions

41:59 Inspiring the next generation

ABOUT OUR GUEST: PETER KILDE

Since 1995, Peter Kilde has been executive director of the West Central Wisconsin Community Action Agency Inc. (West CAP), a community action agency that works to alleviate poverty through affordable housing development, homelessness intervention, food security and other sustainable community asset-building initiatives.

In the past ten years, West CAP has ramped up efforts to offer more affordable housing. Driven by the urgency to address climate change impacts on vulnerable populations worldwide, Kilde has championed the integration of energy-efficient practices into the agency's housing projects.

Recognized for his outstanding leadership in affordable housing innovation and energy conservation, Peter Kilde was honored with the 2013 Charles M. Hill Sr. Award for Housing Excellence.

His passion for community advocacy has led to serving on the National Community Action Partnership Board and co-chairs its Strategic Visions Committee, which focuses on the depletion of other natural resources, environmental degradation, and how economic turmoil impacts low income communities.

He also serves on the Wisconsin CAP Assn. (WISCAP) Board, the regional Workforce Development Board, and as Board Chair of Slipstream, a Wisconsin-based national nonprofit linking energy conservation, and social equity. He is also former chair of the St. Croix Valley Foundation Board.

Additionally, Kilde served on the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas USA (ASPO – USA) Board, his regional Workforce Development Board, the local Habitat for Humanity Board, and the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation Board.

Before West CAP, Peter worked for the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation of St. Paul, Minnesota where, for ten years, he was operations director of Wilder Forest, a 1,200-acre conference and education center highlighting the interconnectedness of social and environmental issues.