PG&E Increases Energy Efficiency Options to Help Customers Rebuilding in Wildfire-Impacted Areas Save Money
As part of its Respond, Rebuild, Resilience commitment to meeting the
challenges of extreme weather resulting from climate change, Pacific Gas
and Electric Company (PG&E) today announced it will double new
construction energy efficiency incentives for residential and business
customers who lost their homes or businesses in the October 2017
Northern California wildfires. The enhanced incentives under the California
Advanced Homes Program and Savings
By Design program will be available for customers across Butte,
Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, and
Yuba counties.
As part of this, PG&E is teaming up with Sonoma Clean Power and the Bay
Area Air Quality Management District to offer a “one stop shop” for
residential green building incentives for customers in Sonoma and
Mendocino Counties who lost their homes in the October 2017 Northern
California wildfires.
“Rebuilding after these devastating wildfires presents challenges for
many of our customers. PG&E's goal is to support our customers by
alleviating some costs so they can focus on their families and the
future. We want to help our customers rebuild efficiently and
sustainably and save money on energy bills when they move into their
homes,” said Robin Christensen, head of PG&E’s Northern California
rebuild team.
Helping Customers Rebuild Sustainably
California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards, called “Title 24,
Part 6,” guide residential and non-residential building and construction
across the state. The standards help to ensure energy efficiency in new
construction to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions associated with
buildings, as well as to lower energy costs for California customers. As
a result, single family homes built to the latest 2016 standards will use
approximately 28 percent less energy for lighting, heating, cooling,
ventilation and water heating than homes built to the 2013 standards.
PG&E will increase incentives for the California
Advanced Homes Program for new home construction and the Savings
By Design program for new business construction for customers who
lost their buildings during the October 2017 wildfires. Both programs
offer incentives for building above energy efficiency code requirements
based on standard energy design ratings.
Supporting Savings for New Homes
PG&E will increase the incentive for customers participating in the
California Advanced Homes Program. For a new home that is built twenty
percent above code, the incentive increases from $1,400 to $2,800. PG&E
will work closely with both home builders and individual homeowners who
are rebuilding to support participation. These changes will be available
as they exist today through 2021.
Additionally, to support a shortage in local housing, PG&E expanded the
California Advanced Homes Program to allow detached, in-law units with
separate mechanical systems to receive full incentives for these areas.
This means that multiple residential construction projects that share an
electric meter and/or land parcel will be evaluated as separate projects
and each of them will be individually eligible to participate and
receive an incentive.
In addition to doubling incentives for existing programs, PG&E is
partnering with Sonoma Clean Power and the Bay Area Air Quality
Management District to support customers in Sonoma and Mendocino
counties whose homes were destroyed by the October 2017 wildfires. The
collaboration, called Advanced
Energy Rebuild, allows homeowners and builders to access incentives
from all three organizations with a single application.
Based on PG&E’s existing California Advanced Homes Program for new home
construction, eligible customers can apply for the new Advanced Energy
Rebuild Program to receive up to $17,500 for rebuilding sustainably.
Condominiums, apartments and in-law units will be eligible for a portion
of the incentives. The program is available through December 31, 2019 or
until funds run out.
Helping Business Owners Save
For business owners, the Savings by Design program currently offers
incentives up to $150,000 per building. PG&E will increase the
incentives to up to $300,000 per building. Additionally, PG&E will
increase its comprehensive design assistance, offer expedited
application reviews and engineering and sales support for business
customers who lost their property. These changes will be available as
they exist today through 2023.
How to Learn More
Customers can learn more about the California Advanced Homes Program at cahp-pge.com/
and Savings by Design at pge.com/savingsbydesign.
Customers in Sonoma and Mendocino counties can contact Sonoma Clean
Power or PG&E to learn more details about the new Advanced Energy
Rebuild Program. Contact Sonoma Clean Power by visiting sonomacleanpower.org/advancedenergyrebuild
or emailing programs@sonomacleanpower.org
and PG&E by calling 1-800-743-5000.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San
Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of
the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and
Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/
and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page.
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