Two programs funded in part by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are available to help local homeowners improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
Energy Upgrade California is a statewide program that launched last March, and is a partnership among utility companies, government agencies and nonprofits to encourage residents to have their homes assessed for energy efficiency and then upgraded.
PG&E is offering rebates of up to $4,000 to homeowners who take advantage of the program before the end of the year. Representatives from Energy Upgrade California are hosting a joint workshop with the city of Hollister on Feb. 8 that will include information on the home-buying process, down payment assistance and how to make homes more energy efficient. It will include information on the rebate programs.
“The purpose is to help California make homes more efficient and save money on their electricity bill and to put contractors back to work,” said Colin Clark, a senior project manager with Energy Upgrade California.
Key components to the program that will end in March – though rebates will still be available – are technical support and training opportunities for contractors who want to learn how to make homes more energy efficient.
The second program is run by Central Coast Energy Services and helps low-income homeowners with weatherization measures that can make their homes more energy efficient. The CCES program is no cost to qualifying residents. The program can offer water heater replacement, ceiling and floor insulation, carbon monoxide alarm, five-smoke alarms, programmable thermostat, weather stripping and replacement of light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs.
For the Energy Upgrade California program, homeowners pay the cost of the work up front, though Clark said financing options are available. They then receive a rebate from PG&E depending on how much they have improved their homes’ energy efficiency. Clark said the average cost of upgrades for the 3,000 homes in California that have undergone the process was $13,000 and the average rebate was $3,200.
“That investment pays off in the space of three to five years,” Clark said. “It becomes a return on investments. When you do these upgrades, you save on energy and utility bills go down.”
Clark said that Energy Upgrade California teaches a “whole-house approach” to the raters and contractors that they train.
“It is the house-as-a-system approach,” he said. “Folks often think if it’s cold, you need a bigger heater. The reality of it is that if you looked in every nook and cranny – windows and attics – you would have a hole the size of a hula hoop in the wall.”
The plan for upgrading a home is specifically tailored to each residence – it can include items such as insulation, window replacement, duct sealing and replacement of appliances.
Of the 3,000 homeowners who have taken advantage of the program, Clark said there have been a mix of people in older homes as well as homes built in the last 15 years.
“It doesn’t matter how new a home is – we haven’t built energy efficient homes in this state,” Clark said.
He noted that there are other benefits to the upgrades in addition to lower utility bills. Proper sealing of a home can lower the amount of dust that gets in and keep the home warmer so it is more comfortable to homeowners. It can also increase the safety of a home because contractors can make sure that gas appliances are installed properly so that carbon monoxide is expelled from the home.
“There are all sorts of benefits,” he said.
While Energy Upgrade California is still working to meet its target of upgrading 10,000 homes statewide, the Department of Community Services and Development is nearing its target of weatherizing 44,000 low-income homes in the state. Central Coast Energy Services, which works with homes in San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey, is one of many agencies CSD has partnered with for the program.
More than 1,450 homes have been weatherized in the four-county region. Those who apply for the program can be homeowners or renters.
According to a CSD press release, homes that have been weatherized have reduced energy consumption by up to 35 percent, saving homeowners more than $400 on heating and cooling bills in the first year.
“I appreciate the commitment of our local service providers to the successful implementation of this program and to working to ensure as many low-income Californians as possible benefit from the availability of these resources during these challenging times,” said John A. Wagner, the CSD interim director.
