Kurt Peavey (Oneida-Madison Electric Cooperative director), Colleen Peavey and Carol Saulsgiver from New York volunteered at the Touchstone Energy community service event in New Orleans. Photo credit: Luis Gomez

More than eighty volunteers from Touchstone Energy (TSE) electric cooperatives across the country are participating today in a Rebuilding Together New Orleans (RTNO) weatherization project in New Orleans’ West Carrollton neighborhood. 

In order to participate in the project, volunteers from more than thirty co-ops will be coming to New Orleans prior to the start of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s 2013 Annual Meeting, which kicks off on Monday, February 18.   

“The cooperative volunteers are thrilled to have an opportunity to contribute their time and labor to Rebuilding Together New Orleans,” said NRECA CEO Glenn English.

“This project combines two principles that cooperatives across the country hold dear:  the value of energy efficiency and a concern for community.   By weatherizing and improving these homes, this project can improve the quality of life for these residents,” English said.

The volunteers will be rehabbing and repairing three homes damaged by flooding and making significant energy efficiency improvements. Two of the homes require new drywall to replace defective, unsafe drywall.

Armed with caulking guns and paint brushes, volunteers will be sealing window and door frames, painting and adding insulation.  A blower door test conducted before and after the improvements will measure the efficiency gains.  Volunteers will also distribute copies of Touchstone Energy’s “101 Easy Ways to Save Energy and Money” to the neighbors.

Volunteers from Dixie Electric Membership Corporation in Baton Rouge will be providing food for the volunteers.

About Touchstone Energy
Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives is a nationwide alliance of more than 740 consumer-owned electric cooperatives dedicated to serving their members and communities with integrity, accountability, innovation and commitment to community. Touchstone Energy co-ops collectively deliver power and energy solutions to more than 30 million members every day.

About Rebuilding Together New Orleans
Rebuilding Together New Orleans is a volunteer effort to improve the quality of life of low income homeowners, particularly those who are elderly, disabled, or single head of households with minor children, through home repair and revitalization of New Orleans’ neighborhoods.