CHEYENNE -- The state energy office will roll out an appliance rebate program April 15. It will be financed by about $500,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars.

"This is the appliance equivalent of 'cash for clunkers,'" said Shannon Stanfill, manager of the Wyoming Business Council's State Energy Office.

The rebates will be available for new Energy Star-type clothes washers, dishwashers, water heaters and gas furnaces.

The April 15 effective date is closer to Earth Day and may find consumers with income tax refunds in their pockets. It also will allow contractors time to prepare for the program.

Wyoming is late getting started with the program, which gives the state an advantage in learning the mistakes other states have made.

Rebates will be available on a first-come, first-served basis while the money lasts.

"We could burn through that money in less than a month," Stanfill said.

Stanfill announced the project Wednesday during a joint conference of the Wyoming Contractor Exchange and the Utility Exchange at Little America.

The Wyoming Home Performance Alliance hosted the two overlapping conferences. The focus was on energy efficiency at the residential and local levels.

The speakers said the goal is to build a workforce that can retrofit homes, not just to make them energy efficient but to make then healthier, safer and more comfortable.

Bruce Matulich of the Electric and Gas Industrial Association said contractors will be the beneficiaries of the transition in the home improvement market in a sluggish economy.

Delivering the keynote address, Laura Ladd, energy advisory to Gov. Dave Freudenthal, said the threshold for spending on energy efficiency by Wyoming's conservative homeowners is probably $2,000 per year.

Energy efficiency has to be cost-effective, she said.

The state energy office has a daunting task in educating people about the benefits of energy efficiency.

"The message needs to be centered on why it makes economic sense," Ladd said.

The state will receive an additional $10 million for weatherization for low-income residents.

Although the state energy office budget includes $3 million for a weatherization program for middle-income residents, no contractor submitted a proposal for the business. Ladd said that means something is wrong with the model.

She noted that contractors have opportunities for energy-efficient projects in the industrial sector.

As for the residential sector, she said relatively inexpensive projects like installing programmable thermostats, insulation and new lighting are places to start.

"Let's do what's proven," she said.

Contact capital bureau reporter Joan Barron at 307-632-1244 or joan.barron@trib.com

For more info

Go to www.wyomingrebates.com