Campaign Helps Bring $2.6 Million for Energy Efficiency

A new building retrofit program, called Energy Upgrade California (EUC), is coming soon from the Sonoma County Regional Climate Protection Authority (RCPA) to help property owners achieve energy-saving building improvements and the community reach its greenhouse gas reduction goal. The Climate Protection Campaign provided significant support to the RCPA to obtain additional funding for the new retrofit program through the State Energy Program (SEP) and Retrofit Ramp-Up (RRU) grant programs; EUC’s initial funding is provided through federal stimulus block grants from the County of Sonoma and cities of Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, and Petaluma.

On the June 14, the RCPA Board approved the new grants, which represents $1.2 million SEP to continue developing the residential program and $1.4 million RRU for two pilot projects (on-water-bill financing program; neighborhood-scale retrofitting program). The SEP grant is in partnership with the Association of Bay Area Governments and seven Bay Area Counties for residential retrofitting; the RRU grant is in partnership with Los Angeles County, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, and California Center for Sustainable Energy (San Diego) as well as the California Energy Commission and Air Resources Board and focuses on innovative pilots programs to develop effective energy upgrade strategies and tools.

The EUC represents an innovative level of coordination between State, regional, and local partners to ensure property owners can access energy upgrade resources in a seamless manner via (1) a retrofit program (i.e., consumer education, contractor credentials/quality assurance, contractor support, local partnerships, rebate bundling, project tracking), (2) utility incentive program (i.e., cash incentives for energy upgrade projects) and traditional rebates, and (3) financing through programs such as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs such as our very own Sonoma County Energy Independence Program and other means such as Energy Efficient Mortgages. The EUC is expected to launch in late summer.

Community-wide Energy Efficiency Program Coming

A comprehensive, countywide retrofit/renewable program will launch in the spring to help reduce emissions in the building sector. About 40 percent of Sonoma County's greenhouse gases are associated with the electricity, natural gas, and water used in buildings.

An implementation group formed and facilitated by the Climate Protection Campaign and the Sonoma County Climate Protection Authority (a new role for the Sonoma County Transportation Authority) sparked and developed this exciting retrofit/renewable program.

On December 3, an orientation was given by consultants chosen to guide the program to stakeholders and members of the public. There is a link below to the presentation of the lead consultant Brian Gitt of BKI.

The program will provide building owners easy access to information and resources for energy-savings, renewable-energy generation, and water conservation. Lists of certified vendors and a financing package that integrates loan options, rebates, incentives, and tax credits to deliver a cost-effective budget will also be available.

Links for more information on the Retrofit Program: