💰 What’s the plan for Marshall Fire funds?

What’s the plan for distributing the rest of the Marshall Fire fund? Community Foundation Boulder County releases first details

Ninety days after the Marshall Fire reduced more than 1,000 homes to ash and upended lives, the Community Foundation Boulder County on Monday detailed publicly for the first time how it plans to distribute the remaining $28.5 million in disaster relief raised through the Boulder County Wildfire Fund. 

The majority of the money — some $20 million — will directly help fire victims rebuild their homes in Boulder County, it said. 

“Number one, we want you back in your homes as quickly as humanly possible,” said Tatiana Hernandez, CEO of the Community Foundation Boulder County, which is administering the Boulder County Wildfire Fund. 

The fund has raised an “unprecedented” $38 million from more than 76,000 donors, Hernandez said. So far, it has allocated $8.1 million. That includes $5.5 million in direct payments to people whose homes were damaged or destroyed — including renters. Households of one or two people received $2,500 per household. Those with three or more people were given $5,000. Another $1.5 million went to workers who lost wages or livelihood equipment.

Fire survivors and others in the community have been clamoring for answers on what will happen with the rest. As Hernandez gave her presentation before the roughly 45 people who gathered at the Superior Business Center, 100 or so questions poured in from viewers watching the meeting online.

Reina Pomeroy, who joined the Marshall Together survivors group after losing her home in Louisville, spoke first, introducing Hernandez. “So many folks want to understand who the Community Foundation is, what they are doing on our behalf, and perhaps why we haven’t received more checks,” she said. She was skeptical about the foundation at first, she said, but praised the work it has done so far. The foundation “feels our urgency,” she said. 

Want to get off natural gas? Boulder climate experts offer advice on electrifying your home

For Chaz Teplin, retrofitting his house away from natural gas is an opportunity to bring his personal life in line with the values underpinning his work as an energy scientist. The 47-year-old Boulder resident is principal of the Carbon-Free Electricity program at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a sustainability research and consulting organization, where he focuses on decarbonizing the electricity sector. 

“The route to decarbonization is to electrify everything and clean up the grid,” Teplin says. 

To live up to the green values he espouses at work, Teplin has begun renovating his Boulder townhouse in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood to run entirely on electricity. He plans to swap out his air conditioner and gas-powered furnace for an electric-powered heat pump; his gas-powered hot water heater will be replaced with an electric model. Teplin is also installing a charging station for his electric car. 

But even with his climate background, Teplin says the electrification process has been challenging. Finding contractors with all-electric building know-how, securing rebates from various sources to offset part of the cost and paying the construction bills can all be stressful. In total, he expects the entire process to take a few months and cost over $30,000 after rebates. But Teplin says the cost is worth getting his home off natural gas. 

“In my day job, I work on cleaning up the grid. I feel it’s only right to complement this by electrifying,” he says. “Walk the talk, as they say.”

To help residents who want to follow his lead, Boulder Reporting Lab spoke with Teplin and his RMI colleague Brady Seals about the costs, challenges and rewards of moving away from natural gas in your own home.