To the editor:

In your Sept. 27 article, “Westar proposal may energize loan program,” you note that only 58 applicants have been funded amounting to roughly 1 percent of the $38 million allocated to the Efficiency Kansas program. If my experience is typical, then the reason for these poor statistics is not lack of interest but rather a lack of “efficiency.”

In March of this year I attempted to apply to this program. I read the detailed instructions, was pre-approved for the loan, and paid $700 for the required energy audit using one of the contractors listed on the Efficiency Kansas website. After several phone calls and e-mails to Efficiency Kansas offices for help in filling out the required forms, the auditor submitted the 50-plus page report and plan, and then we waited.

After waiting five months, I finally gave up and implemented essentially all of the improvements recommended by the audit, totaling about $8,500 out of pocket. It’s possible that we either forgot to submit some form or filled something out improperly, but no one from the program office has ever contacted me or the auditor for additional information, and I obviously have no interest in or need for this program any more.

But if I couldn’t figure this byzantine, unintelligible process, how in heaven’s name could an elderly retiree who could really use this program have any hope? My guess is that more of the $38 million has gone toward paying the salaries of this bureaucratic tar pit than toward real energy improvements.