Bill: Cost of New Units in Heating Bill

(AP) _ South Carolina legislators are consideringan energy bill to allow residents to retrofit their homes with nomoney down while also paying lower electricity bills. The state’s electric cooperatives are proposing to tie the costof retrofitting homes to monthly utility bills. A Senate Judiciary subcommittee is to discuss a bill Tuesdaycreating the program. Utilities would pay for things such as new heating and coolingunits and better insulation. Paying for the improvements would bebuilt into customers’ utility bills, at 2.5 percent interest. The monthly payment would be tied to the home, not the resident,so buyers would inherit the cost if a home was sold. Environmentalists are praising the so-called “green lean”program. (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)