Some Western students encouraged the Bowling Green City Commission Tuesday to spend stimulus money on weatherizing homes.

Lexington junior Greg Capillo spoke to Mayor Elaine Walker and commissioners at a work session on Tuesday afternoon.

A couple of other Western students also attended.

Bowling Green is receiving money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, known as the stimulus bill.

The city is receiving money from a number of different grants, including the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program.

The city should be receiving about $585,600 from the EECBG, which provides grants to governments, states, territories and American Indian tribes to fund projects that reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions.

Capillo asked commissioners to consider using the EECBG money to weatherize homes in Bowling Green.

“Weatherizing could save homeowners tons of money, and if we can get the whole community behind it there could be great results,” he said at the session.

Capillo, who was representing Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, said Bowling Green could make a lot of improvements toward becoming a sustainable community.

Capillo said some homeowners in Bowling Green are paying extraordinarily high heating bills. Weatherizing homes could change that.

“There are people with minimum wage jobs who are paying $500 for utilities in the winter,” he said.

Capillo said he felt the presentation went well.

“We want to make sure the money goes to the parts of Bowling Green that need it, not the parts that would be politically convenient,” he said.

The EECBG is divided into several different grants, Commissioner Bruce Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson said he expects about $50,000 of the money to go toward weatherizing homes.

The money would be divided into mini-grants between $1,000-$2,500, which would be given to Bowling Green residents to help weatherize their homes, he said.

Wilkerson said the grants would help families with low incomes reduce their home utility costs each month.

The city commission will vote on how to spend the money at its next meeting, Wilkerson said.

On average, weatherizing reduces heating bills by 32 percent and overall energy bills by about $350 per year at current prices, according to the US Department of Energy Web site.

The savings help push communities toward job growth and economic development, according to the Web site.