Cheaper oil won't scuttle Obama's efficiency plan

A home under construction July 19, 2008 in Temecula, California, uses new solar technology developed by SunPower Corp that allows thinner solar wafers to be designed into the shingles.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Companies specializing in home energy efficiency should get a boost under U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama's administration despite a slowing economy and a sharp drop in oil prices.

U.S. energy independence and diversity came to the fore of the presidential election after crude oil prices peaked at over $147 a barrel in July, driving fuel costs to fresh records.

While crude oil prices have since tumbled to below $60 per barrel, experts say the economic benefits of Obama's energy plan for higher home energy efficiency -- including the weatherization of one million homes annually -- should go forward.

"We are probably the only business in the world that's expanding," said Colin Genge, president of Retrotec, a company that manufactures products for home energy audits in Everson, Washington.

Genge has seen his company's business double in the last year as energy prices soared, and said he expects to see additional growth if Obama's plan is implemented.

Although Genge's company is relatively small, with $5 million a year in sales, he said the employment opportunities offered by Obama's plan make it more alluring in the wake of the economic crisis and mounting job losses.

"This would be an excellent time to put millions of people to work," he said.

Weatherizing involves a home "energy audit" to pinpoint inefficiencies and can involve any measure that conserves energy from installing insulation and sealing ducts to replacing old inefficient boilers and other appliances.

GREEN ECONOMIC RECOVERY

First year energy savings from weatherization average $413 per family and every $1 invested in weatherization results in $2.72 in energy and non-energy related benefits, according to the Department of Energy.

The Obama plan will increase the number of homes that are weatherized annually under the Department of Energy's program by about five-fold, and require large numbers of workers to be trained, according to Meg Power, senior policy advisor at the National Community Action Foundation.

"These are good entry jobs to a building industry," said Power. "It's good training for when construction picks back up."

In addition, a larger weatherization program will increase business for manufacturers that make many of the tools used to weatherize homes such as "blower doors" that test how airtight homes are and scanners that detect leaks.

Power said most of these manufacturers are located in the United States, and some see weatherization and other green energy investments as part of a U.S. economic recovery plan.

"You can create jobs and increase our manufacturing capacity and have a green economic recovery," said Eben Burnham-Snyder, communications director for the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

"People talk about energy efficiency and renewables increasingly in economic and national security terms rather than environmental ones," said Burnham-Snyder.

"They will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reinvigorate our manufacturing sector."

Even without Obama's plan, however, some point out that record high prices in the last year have created a lasting interest in energy conservation.

"We have definitely seen huge demand ever since the end of the summer and it hasn't let up, even with the reduction in fuel prices," said Dan Rieber, the weatherization director at the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation.

"(While it's no longer) almost $5 per gallon for heating oil, it's back down to between $2 or $3 a gallon, which is still a lot of money."

(Reporting by Rebekah Kebede; Editing by Marguerita Choy)