Climate Ready Energy Grants and Loans

Climate Ready Energy Grants and Loans cover the following projects:

1. Home energy audit or assessment (although participants will be encouraged to use free programs).
2. Weatherization measures such as insulation, weather stripping and air sealing.
3. Energy efficient windows and/or doors.
4. Energy efficient lighting, including automatic light sensors or timed light sensors. All outdoor lighting must meet international Dark Sky principles.
5. Electric heating, venting and air conditioning (HVAC)
   - Electric air or ground source heat pump (when paired with a gas system, only the electric components are eligible for the grant).
   - Air conditioners with higher SEER than that which is being replaced.
   - Smart Thermostats
6. Improved efficiency electric water heaters (gas to electric or electric to more efficient electric).
7. Upgrade of electrical panels or wiring to support electrification measures.
8. Installation of EV chargers and/or the wiring to support future EV chargers. (Not a CDGB-eligible energy efficiency project)
9. Renewable energy systems and/or battery storage. (Not a CDBG-eligible energy efficiency project)

Home energy audit or assessment

An energy audit is an analysis of your home’s energy use and suggests the best ways to reduce it. An audit sometimes includes a blower door test and thermal imaging that shows how heat or cooling escapes out of your walls, roof, doors and windows. 

Weatherization (insulation)

The more air-tight your home is, the better it will keep your utility bills down. Weatherization includes insulation in walls and attics, sealing crevices and leaks throughout the building, caulking and other forms of weather-stripping around windows and doors.

Before you seal up your home, you should address gas leaks and mold.

Gas Leaks: If an energy audit finds an active gas leak in your home, contact NICOR. If the leak is associated with an appliance, you can get a quote from a contractor.

Mold:  If you have mold growing on your walls or ceilings, it may be unhealthy to insulate your home. You should address the mold first. The Village of Oak Park offers zero-interest 5- or 20-year loans to handle issues like this if you don’t have the money to fix them. These programs do require additional paperwork.

Upgrade of electrical panel

Many homes in Oak Park were built in an era when electricity was pretty new, and people used coal, steam and gas to heat or light their homes and the electrical systems may not be designed to handle modern electric appliances, solar panels, and electric vehicles. Upgrading your electric panel may be an important first step to allow future upgrades to your home.

If you live in a condo and have a dedicated electric panel for your unit, you can apply a Climate Ready Energy Grant to this work.

Electric Water Heater

If you are in need of replacing a gas water heater, use the grants to make the replacement an electric heat pump hot water heater — also referred to as a hybrid hot water heater or electric heat pump water heater. These are more efficient and provide annual energy savings.

Windows & Doors

Windows can be a source of air leaks and replacing them may be a vital step towards being able to heat your home with an electric heat pump.

If you live in an older building and want to keep your historic windows, you can use the grant to install tight-fitting storm windows over single pane windows. Do your windows no longer operate or refuse to close tightly? The grant may be used to replace them.

Windows are an expensive project and you may not need new windows. Read this article from our friends at Elevate to understand why. Start with lower cost weatherization projects first.

Heating & Cooling (Heat Pump)

A heat pump is up to 3 times more efficient than a typical gas furnace, making it one of the best home improvement projects if you want to decrease your energy bills. And unlike furnaces, heat pumps also provide cooling. Climate Ready Energy Grants apply to electric heat-pumps and mini-splits.

In some cases, your home may have a gas furnace along with the heat pump. In this case, only the costs associated with the electric heat pumps are eligible.

If you live in a condo with a gas furnace inside your unit, switching to a heat pump is an especially good idea. Climate Ready Energy Grants can be applied to replace an in-unit gas furnace with an electric heat pump or mini-splits.

Indoor & Outdoor Lighting

If half or more of your lighting (indoor and outdoor) is traditional incandescent light bulbs, you might consider using the Climate Ready Energy Grant program to replace incandescent lighting with LED lighting throughout your home. These include LED bulbs as well as wired-in LED ceiling fixtures and other lights.

If you have outdoor lighting, look at this website Dark Sky Principles to learn more about Dark Sky Principles, which protect humans, wildlife and the planet from light pollution. Dark Sky lighting is useful (as opposed to decorative), points downward, low-level, warm-colored and controlled by timers or motion sensors. If your lighting doesn’t conform to those guidelines, consider using Climate Ready Energy Grants program to purchase outdoor lighting that reduces light pollution.

Solar or Other Renewable Energy System

It is possible to combine a Climate Ready Energy Grant with other Illinois and Federal incentives to bring the price tag down.

Free solar panels to qualifying Oak Park households:

1.  Illinois Solar For All - Learn more about important consumer protections that this program stands behind
2. Cook County Sun And Save

Group rate solar programs:

• Switch Together group purchase program for solar panels.

Do you need help with your application or have any questions? Staff are available to assist with answering questions, verifying eligibility, setting up access to the application portal, and submitting your application.

For questions related to the Climate Ready Energy Efficiency Grant or the Energy Loan, please email sustainability@oak-park.us.

For questions related to the CDBG Climate Ready Energy Grant, please email housing@oak-park.us or call 708-358-5410.

Step 1: Verify that your planned or completed project is eligible. Explore eligible projects on this page or contact us to verify. The Oak Park Climate Action Network’s Climate Coaches can also help you plan your project.

Step 2: Get an energy audit of your home. Free or self-led assessments from Nicor or ComEd qualify. Professional audits or assessments are an eligible cost for the grant. (The Village accepts audits or assessments completed within the last 5 years).

Step 3: Get contractor quotes.

• Obtain three quotes for your proposed energy work
• Review your options and select a contractor

Need help finding a contractor? OPCAN’s Climate Coaches can help identify qualified contractors.  ComEd also provides a list of approved heat pump contractors.  

*Important Requirements*

1. Your contractor must have an active Village business license
2. While three quotes are recommended for all homeowners, they are required if you plan to apply for the CDBG Energy Efficiency Grant

Step 4A: (CDBG-eligible applicants only) Apply for the CDBG Energy Efficiency Grant:

• Click “Apply”  for CDBG after you have obtained three quotes for your proposed energy work.
• Do not submit any signed contracts between you and your contractor.

Important notice: Submitting a signed proposal will make you ineligible for CDBG funding. If this happens, you will be redirected to the Climate Ready Energy Efficiency Grant.

Required Documents:

• Three contractor quotes
• Energy usage report (12 months of ComEd or Nicor usage, up to the time of application)
• Proof of income eligibility, such as:
• • SSI award letter
  • Pension letter
  • Salary letter (for teachers and newly employed) accepted
  • Pay stubs or most recent tax returns

*For Small Rental Property Owners (1-4 units) - You must also provide income documentation for all tenants to determine eligibility.*

Step 4B (Climate Ready Energy Grant-eligible applicants only) Choose how you would like to receive your grant funds:

Option 1: Village Pays Contractor Directly

• Complete the Contractor Agreement(PDF, 124KB) form with your contractor.
• Payment will be issued after the project is completed.
• Submit: final invoice, final inspection report, and final lien waiver.

Option 2: Homeowner Pays Contractor (Reimbursement)

• Pay your contractor directly (in full or partially).
• Submit a Request for Reimbursement form.
• Include all required project closeout documents listed above.

Step 5: Get the work done and save your receipts.
*Reminder that CDBG qualified applicants should only be at this step, once they receive clearance from the Village to proceed with their project.*

Step 6A (Climate Ready Energy Grant-eligible applicants only) Submit your application! These are the documents you will need to have ready to complete your application:

• Quotes selected contractor.
• Proof of income for tier eligibility (i.e SSI award letter, Pension letter, Salary letter for teachers, Paystubs or most recent Tax Returns). As a reminder, if you are Small Rental Property Owner, with tenants, you must obtain and provide proof of tenant(s) income as well, in order to be assessed properly for income eligibility.
• Proof of permit; for all inquires regarding permits, plus reach out to permits@oak-park.us.
• Final inspection report from the Village.
• Final Paid invoices and all receipts.
• Energy Usage reporting. This will be used to evaluate energy savings.
• Contractor Agreement (Contractor Agreement is only needed if the Village pays the Contractor directly).
• Completed and signed Request for Reimbursement form (This form must be signed by homeowner and contacror, in order to be valid).

Step 6B (CDBG- qualified applicants only) Submit your project closeout documents. These are the documents you will need submit to Village staff, once your project has been completed:

• Proof of permit; for all inquires regarding permits, plus reach out to permits@oak-park.us.
• Final inspection report from the Village.
• Final Paid invoices and all receipts.
• Energy Usage reporting(PDF, 116KB). This will be used to evaluate energy savings.
• Contractor Agreement(PDF, 124KB) (Contractor Agreement is only needed if the Village pays the Contractor directly). This will need to be submitted a Final lien waiver from your contractor.
• Completed and signed Request for Reimbursement form(PDF, 162KB) (This form must be signed by homeowner and contactor, in order to be valid).
• All other related CDBG procedurement forms requested for completion by Village.

Special Instructions for Condo Owners

If you live in a condominium, you can use the grant for improvements in your unit, as permitted by your HOA.

However, the grant cannot be used for shared or common building elements such as windows, doors, furnaces, water heaters, or electrical panels.

Other Financial Assistance

For expenses not covered by Climate Ready Energy Grants, these are additional resources to consider (these programs will likely require additional paperwork): 

• Other Village of Oak Park assistance grants and programs:
  • Sewer Backup Protection Grant
  •  Climate Ready Rainscapes Grant

• Village of Oak Park Single Family Rehabilitation Loans  or Small Rental Property Rehabilitation Loans

  If you have received one of these loans, you can apply for a Climate Ready Energy Grant one year after completing the rehabilitation project.

• Non-Village Energy Efficiency and Electrification Incentive Programs. There are other incentive programs offered by the County, utilities, State and Federal government. Check to see if any apply to you.

Helpful Resources to Guide You

The Village of Oak Park will be setting up a department to guide you through energy upgrades by the end of 2025. In the meantime, please contact housing@oak-park.us or 708.358.5410 to walk through the Climate Ready Energy Grant program. 

In addition, there are several important free resources that can help you through this process. 

• OPCAN Climate Coaches
  Once you get your energy audit on your home, we highly recommend contacting a Climate Coach from Oak Park Climate Action Network for a free 30-minute consultation on some of the recommendations from your energy audit report. Climate Coaches are your Oak Park neighbors who have done these energy upgrades on their homes and are a wealth of knowledge. 
• Rewiring America Electrification Planner
  We also highly recommend you walk through the Electrification Planner at Rewiring America. This user-friendly planner includes federal incentives as well as general costs for projects. It’s important to note that this site does not cover all of the 8 projects that fall under Climate Ready Energy Grants. And Climate Ready Energy Grants do not apply to all of the projects suggested by the Rewiring America website.
• ComEd’s Savings Calculator