About Energy Navigators of Addison County
Energy Navigators provides a free resource to all Addison County residents where our trained navigators (energy coaches) serve as knowledgeable collaborators in helping homeowners and renters understand how to increase a home’s comfort, lower energy bills and create a path to reducing the home’s carbon footprint. We assist with planning and prioritization and support decision making to make decarbonization as easy as possible.
Moving quickly to a low-carbon lifestyle is critical to addressing the climate crisis.
Who are Energy Navigators?
Understanding that much of an individual’s greenhouse gas emissions come from their home, the Climate Economy Action Center of Addison County started the Energy Navigator initiative. The aim of the program is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our county by connecting neighbors with one-on-one end-to-end support to understand their home’s energy usage, make informed choices around short term fixes and long term planning. Our navigators help residents reduce their utility bills and reduce their dependency on the volatile fossil fuels whenever feasible.
What to Expect when You Sign Up:
Our navigators connect with you to find a time to meet in your home. We start by discussing your priorities, goals and details of your home and situation. This way we understand how we can best support and tailor recommendations and resources for you.
We then walk through your home with you, reviewing things like the water heater, heating system, electrical panel and more. We want to answer any questions you may have about your existing systems, as well as understand what you do and do not like about how the home currently functions.
After our visit, we create a report for you, it includes recommendations and do-able, bite-sized plans – both shorter and longer term. This report outlines applicable resources, rebates, financing options and how to make improvements that fit your budget (even if your budget is $0!).
Your navigator will be available at any step in the process. We regularly check back in and are always available to help you navigate barriers, assess your options, and talk through the available technical and financial resources.
Who is it for?
Anyone living in Addison County, VT! We serve all household income levels and all types of homes. You can be a homeowner or a renter, live in a mobile home, a farmhouse, or a seasonal vacation house – we are available to help.
Through a generous grant, we are also able to serve individuals living in the town of Brandon, VT.
Why Energy Navigators?
Houses are complicated. We know it can be helpful to have a knowledgeable person to ask questions to, assist with planning, etc. We want to help our neighbors make decisions that will help them save energy and move away from the volatility of fossil fuel prices. Our team aims to help you understand the systems and equipment in your home and generate plans that align with your goals for your residence. Our organization is not selling or profiting from our navigation in any way – we make recommendations based on what we believe will work best for your situation and your needs.
How much does working with the Navigator cost?
Nothing! It is a completely free program.
How do I sign up for a navigation?
If you are interested, please email us at energynavigator.ceac@gmail.com or via our online form.
Questions? Reach out to us at energynavigator.ceac@gmail.com
Acknowledgements
The Energy Navigators program consists today of a small but talented staff, several volunteer Board members, and a cadre of volunteers from our communities. Our staff and volunteer navigators (or energy coaches) have received extensive training with the help of the experts at Rewiring America who have trained more than 1500 energy coaches across the country as of January 2026. We would also like to thank our partners at Mass Energize, who offer technical advice and more importantly community, providing us a model for community-led climate action that inspires our work. Many other organizations, both in Vermont and across the country, have shared with us their experiences with energy coaching and, as may be appropriate, have partnered with us.
Energy Navigators is supported by our funders: Thank you to the Vermont Low-Income Trust for Electricity (VLITE), the Ruth H. Brown Foundation, the towns of Middlebury and Brandon through their grants with Vermont’s Energy Efficiency Community Block Grant program, and the many local donors who have seen the promise of this local, community-based approach to the clean energy transition. Early on in the program’s development, we received support from 13 Addison County towns’ participation in the Vermont mini-MERP (Municipal Energy Resilience Program) small grants program.
Our efforts have been aided by many people over the years as we have gone from an idea to an actual living, breathing project. We want to thank in particular Rebecca Dalgin, who did invaluable research on the nuts and bolts of running an energy coaching program, and who kept energy justice at the top of our agenda. Maddi Shropshire from the Addison County Regional Planning Commission has also helped us in our efforts to connect this project with the other Addison County and Vermont-based climate action efforts. We also want to thank the many Middlebury College interns who have assisted in the development of important programmatic, marketing, and digital pieces that are now part of Energy Navigators.