FREEPORT – With colder weather creeping closer and with it, higher energy bills, the town of Freeport will host an energy fair next week at the Freeport Community Center designed to help tri-town residents get through another Maine winter.

According to event organizers, the free workshop will provide a wide variety of information, including how to improve the heating efficiency of homes, fuel efficiency of vehicles, and where to get help if it is needed it during the coming winter season.

The energy fair will also provide low-cost energy improvement solutions that can be done by homeowners; information on programs offering forgivable and low-interest loans for home repairs, weatherization, roofs, furnaces, and electrical wiring; information on home heating safety issues; and how to properly install wood stoves will be discussed.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Mainers spend an average of $2,535 through the winter season – Oct. 1 through March 31 – which is among the highest per capita in the nation and 45 percent higher than in 2010. The average price of heating oil in the state is now $3.56 a gallon, according to Maine Governor’s Energy Office.

For many, the increase in fuel costs is coming at the same time when funding for the government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which subsidized energy bills for 9 million households last year, has been significantly reduced. In November of 2011, President Obama signed a budget bill authorizing a 47 percent cut in LIHEAP’s funding to $2.5 billion, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. This year, federal funding for LIHEAP is expected to drop by more than $1 million once again.

According to Keep ME Warm, an organization that provides emergency heating assistance through a statewide partnership of Maine’s United Ways and Community Action agencies, changes in federal eligibility guidelines have left more than 4,000 previously eligible households out in the cold. Keep ME Warm saw denial rates close to 20 percent this past year, which is twice the typical rate in the winter.

“It’s a huge concern,” said Dewitt Kimball, owner of Maine Energy Solutions, a Brunswick-based energy efficiency consulting firm, who will be among the presenters at the Freeport event. “Homeowners can help themselves in a number of ways by a simple evaluation of their home.”

In addition to Kimball, presenters will include Ronda Jones of Cumberland County Home Consortium; Ken Toner, a contractor; Darrel Fournier, Freeport’s fire chief; and Freeport Selectman Rich DeGrandpre from R&D Automotive.

“We did this five years ago, when we were concerned that the price of oil would reach outrageous levels,” said Johanna Handelsman, general assistance administrator for Freeport. “We are looking at a number of different mechanisms to help people. I’m very excited about the experts we’ll have presenting. We understand getting through the winter can be tough.”

A CLOSER LOOK

The town of Freeport will host a free energy workshop, “How to Get Through Another Maine Winter,” on Wednesday, Oct. 2, from 6-7:30 p.m., at the Freeport Community Center, 15 Depot St. The public is invited to attend the workshop, which will provide information on how to improve the heating efficiency of your home, how to improve the efficiency of your vehicle, financial incentive programs that can help with heat and weatherization projects and where to get help if you need it during the coming winter season.

Participants will be entered into drawings for gift certificates from Durham Oil and Downeast Energy, programmable thermostats and weatherization materials from Freeport Hardware and an oil and filter change from R&D Automotive.

For more information, contact Johanna Hanselman at the Freeport Town Hall, 865-4743, ext. 120