Delaware Leads in Weatherizing Homes

The Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Energy has released a report lamenting the slow pace of deployment of funds for weatherization.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) allocated $4.73 billion for weathering homes over a three year period. Of that, only $368.2 million (less than 8 percent) has actually been used.
The good news is that Delaware leads the country in spending the money. Matt Denn, who oversees Delaware's use of stimulus money, announced yesterday that Delaware has met 34 percent of its three year target, which means the state is right on schedule.
In a press release, Denn credited the cooperation among state managers, non profits, educators, private contractors and labor for getting the job done:

It is really a classic Delaware story. When we realized in the fall that the program was not starting as quickly as we had hoped, we gathered the players together, decided on a plan to ramp up our efforts, and implemented that plan.

The funds were not distributed through the Delaware Energy Office or the Sustainable Energy Utility, but through the system of state service centers run by the Department of Health and Social Services. These centers already serve the target households on a daily basis, and thus could easily identify and work with the families that need the work.