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A pilot program that provides low-interest loans for homeowners looking to upgrade their homes’ energy-efficiency is on track to expand throughout the state this year.

Clean Energy Works started as a 500-home pilot program in Portland. Gov. John Kitzhaber and other state leaders today marked the statewide launch of the Clean Energy Works program, which will expand from Portland and the Rogue Valley to the Klamath Basin, Lane County, Hood River, Astoria, Bend and Pendleton later this year.

At an announcement in Salem today, Energy Works Oregon CEO Derek Smith said the program has already created more than 100 jobs and more than 500 projects have been completed. In the next three years, Clean Energy Works aims to create 1,300 jobs and complete 6,000 residential projects.

To be eligible for projects through the program, contractors must be approved by the Clean Energy Works organization and must have Energy Trust, Building Performance Institute, and OSHA certifications. For more information, visit .