Someone looking for a yardstick to measure the profligacy of the party in power in Washington would have to search far and wide for a better one than a remark by Shea Hollifield. Regarding the 2,252-percent increase in federal money that Virginia will receive to weatherize drafty homes, Hollifield—deputy director of the Department of Housing and Community Development—says, “I was stunned. Spending that much money will be a challenge.“

Ready or not, states are getting a huge boost in federal money to weatherize drafty homes, an increase so huge it has raised fears of waste and fraud and set off a scramble to find workers and houses for them to repair.

Lois Marshall’s exceedingly modest 1940s-era ranch home needed a new roof, furnace, chimney liner and insulation to keep her warm and dry in the winter. Yesterday, the little yellow house off Parham Road in Henrico County was nearing the end of a $14,000 energy-efficiency makeover. It’s just one example of how Virginia plans to spend more than $94 million in federal stimulus cash from the Department of Energy that has been allocated for the weatherization of homes in the state.

Va. to get energy-project funds Stimulus package includes $164 million for efficiency programs, weatherization Virginia’s $4.8 billion share of the federal economic-stimulus package includes more than $164 million in grants for weatherization and energy-efficiency programs, White House officials announced yesterday. About $94 million will go toward the commonwealth’s Weatherization Assistance Program, while $70 million will be applied to the State Energy Program.

Virginia will receive more than $164 million in federal grants for weatherization and energy efficiency programs, the White House announced today.