Maine News Updates

SOUTH PORTLAND - Southern Maine Community College will host a day-long conference Thursday to promote the home-weatherization industry.

A variety of public officials, business leaders, labor union representatives and environmental advocates are expected to attend.

The goal of the conference is to encourage private-sector investment and build on public financing options, according to conference sponsors.

Members of the Laborers' International Union of North America will demonstrate how to retrofit a home to increase energy efficiency.

An estimated 100 million U.S. homes are energy inefficient, according to weatherization proponents. Retrofitting those homes would create thousands of new jobs and reduce overall household energy costs by $3.5 billion a year (about $350 per household).

It also would save the equivalent of 500 million barrels of oil annually.