New federal grant will help families on the eastside of Jacksonville cut down on energy bills

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Relief for dozens of families on the way to Jacksonville’s Eastside neighborhood.

The City of Jacksonville has received a major grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) that is expected to cut down some energy bills.

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“We’re going to be doing a below door test to see what air is coming into the house, cracks, windows, doors, etc.,” Joshua Hicks said. “And, what airs going out just naturally.”

Hicks is the Director of Affordable Housing for the City of Jacksonville. He said the city, alongside the JEA, will use the $845,350 grant to bring energy efficiency to low-income households.

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“We’re actually going to be setting up in these house energy auditing systems for the energy efficiency program to actually be able to track not only their monthly bills—'Are they decreasing?’ as we expect they will,” Hicks said. “But, also track the climate inside the house.”

So far, JEA has already tested these auditing systems on 15 households on the eastside, according to Hicks. That’s how the city qualified for the grant. The program plan will be brought to city council for approval. If approved, it will help 110 low-income households.

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“It’s going to help keep people in their homes for longer periods of time, which will help with overall housing crisis that we have here in Jacksonville,” Hicks said.

The city will be rolling out a formal announcement soon. This is a developing story, once we learn more about the enrollment process, we’ll update this story.

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