HRA approves Healthy Homes, Power of Home guidelines and refers measures to city council

The St. Paul Housing & Redevelopment Authority voted to approve and refer to the City Council a resolution establishing program guidelines for Healthy Homes and Power of Home, two home-improvement programs aimed at lowering energy costs and addressing health-and-safety barriers to weatherization.

Chief Resilience Officer Russ Stark told the authority that “Healthy Homes will include both pre‑weatherization measures and weatherization,” and that pre‑weatherization work would only be done where it is necessary to enable weatherization. He summarized Power of Home as work to “help our lower income households move away from the use of fossil fuels,” including electric heat pumps, heat‑pump water heaters and induction stoves, plus required electrical panel upgrades or expansions.

The authority’s staff described eligibility and important distinctions between the two programs. Healthy Homes is proposed for owner‑occupied one‑to‑four‑unit dwelling units up to 80…