Clean Energy Action Month is here!

October is National Clean Energy Action Month! Read on to hear from one KEEP staffer about her journey towards a home powered by clean energy, and then check out all the ways you and your students can learn about and celebrate clean energy this month.

KEEP staffer brings clean energy action home

By Heather Phelps, KEEP Resource Specialist

As an energy educator, I often wrestle with how to apply the principles I teach to my own daily life. KEEP's Vision is “communities making informed energy choices now and for a sustainable future.” Our Goal is “to leverage teacher education to improve and increase energy literacy in Wisconsin’s K-12 schools as a means of contributing to statewide energy savings.” But what do those informed energy choices look like in the real world? And as an energy literate person, how can I contribute to statewide energy savings? 

I got my chance to really dive into these questions when I bought my first house this past spring. As a renter, I had done the basic things – switch light bulbs to LEDs, set my thermostat a few degrees warmer in summer and colder in winter, and so forth – but as a homeowner, I was excited to take the next steps.  

I started with Focus on Energy. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, Wisconsin has two great home energy efficiency programs which Focus manages, in addition to a number of smaller rebates. I started by sending Focus my income information to find out how much money I qualified for. Then I looked at the HEAR program. I knew any projects would need to start by upgrading my electrical panel to 200 amps instead of 100 amps, and switching to a larger panel so I’d have more space for all the circuits to fully electrify my house. 

Luckily, by using a Focus on Energy approved contractor and going through the HEAR program, I was able to save $4,000 on upgrading my panel, and another $2,000 on the wiring to install a charger in my garage for my EV. I also knew I wanted to stop burning methane gas in my house – and have more efficient heating and cooling – so I used the HEAR program to save $8,000 on a heat pump to replace my furnace and A/C. 

The other IRA-funded program is called HOMES. That one requires starting with an energy audit to find out how efficient your home currently is, in order to predict how much energy you’ll be able to save with different possible upgrades. Based on my income qualification I got the audit for free, and it was fascinating watching the auditor walking around my house with some very familiar tools, and discovering that my attic desperately needs some updated insulation. (It’s a 92 year old house, and while a lot of it has been updated since, it turns out the bottom layer of my attic insulation is still straw!) So an insulation project is definitely on my list, especially given the $5,000 HOMES rebate. However, since the HEAR and HOMES programs are thankfully not among those expiring at the end of this year, I’ve decided to put that one off a while longer for both financial reasons, and because I’m only prepared to handle so many house projects at once! 

The biggest project I’ve undertaken is getting a solar array and battery for my house. Wisconsin still only gets 2% of our electricity from solar; 73% is from fossil fuel sources. Increasing the amount of energy we get from solar and other renewable sources is one of the best ways to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we produce in this state. And with the 30% tax credit for solar ending at the end of this year, I wanted to get my array installed before then.   

In addition to talking to friends with solar about their installers, I used EnergySage to compare different quotes before making my decision. Then I had to wait through the inevitable, slow back-and-forth with the city and my utility to get all the proper permits and approvals. I was very grateful the solar company took care of all of that for me!  

Then this past week the installation ramped up to lightning speed. I got the first knock on my door at 7:30 Monday morning, and soon there was a parade of installers, electricians, and utility lineworkers working on my house. I’d wondered how much might have to get postponed due to the rain, but the answer was none of it – a lineworker climbed right up the live power pole behind my house to upgrade my powerline to something that could handle 200 amps while the electrician worked below on the house side of the meter and the solar crew put up the rails across my roof to attach the solar panels to. 

By the end of the first day my power was back on and all the rails were up, and by the end of day 2 all the panels were up and my EV charger was installed as well. The battery proved a little more time-consuming to get all hooked up (there’s a whole computerized system to manage switching between the grid and the battery, plus various mechanical shutoffs in case of emergency), but now it's all ready to go other than the final inspections by the utility.  

It’s been a long journey, and a complex one, but it’s been wonderful to see how even a 92-year-old house can be transformed into a building that can make its own electricity and use it efficiently. I look forward to writing a follow up with some real-world data once everything has been up and running for a while.

Take Energy Action in Your Classroom, School or District!

Recognize somebody!

Attend a Training or Event!

Wisconsin Science Festival 

The15th Wisconsin Science Festival is coming up this month October 16-26! Events are happening all over the state, so find an event near you to unleash your curiosity with this year’s theme of Rock & Roll – celebrating music, motion, and geology.  

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The KEEP program is funded with generous support by Alliant Energy, Madison Gas and Electric, We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, WPPI Energy, and Xcel Energy. 

Published October 2025