The Long Island Power Authority will soon help customers improve their energy efficiency and save money too.

The new program makes it easier for homeowners to afford efficiency upgrades.LIPA is participating in the state's "on-bill" financing initiative, which provides free energy audits and then helps finance energy efficiency projects. The costs of the upgrades are paid from charges on electric utility bills, but the payments are spread out in such a way that customers can expect to pay no extra costs -- and in fact may even save money if the efficiency measures are particularly cost-cutting.

NYLCV fought hard for the creation of this program two years ago.

“Now you can decide on the work you’re going to have done and do it in such a way that you end up paying for the financing through the LIPA bill, so there’s no out of pocket expense to the home owner. You see many years of benefits ahead of you,” LIPA board member Neal Lewis told the Long Island Business News.

The only downside to the program is its relatively small scale. The program will initially be available only to 5,000 Long Island households. Applications will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. The authority said it’s already received about 60 to 70 applications.