California Climate & Energy Collaborative

Opinion: All Californians deserve cleaner, low-cost power

Sarina Soor
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“Over the past decade, Californians have installed close to 6,700 megawatts of rooftop solar on resident-owned homes throughout the state. Unfortunately, as solar adoption and investment have increased, low-income residents — homeowners and renters — have been left behind. This disparity has demonstrated the need for incentive programs to establish equity as a priority from…

Los Angeles’ Energy Utility Shares the Power

Sarina Soor
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“The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) – the nation’s largest municipal utility – voted to invest $100 million over five years to improve energy efficiency in lower-income rental housing, ensuring those who most need electricity bill savings will see some relief. LADWP also allocated $10 million for new shared solar facilities, further…

GRID Alternatives celebrates milestone of serving 10,000 low-income California families with solar

Sarina Soor
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“GRID Alternatives, a national leader in making clean, affordable solar power and solar jobs accessible to low-income communities and communities of color, got its start in California in 2004 and has helped the state implement several of its groundbreaking low-income solar programs, including the Single-family Affordable Solar Homes program (SASH) and the solar portion of…

California announces solar programs for disadvantaged communities

Sarina Soor
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“The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has adopted three new programs to promote the installation of solar energy to serve customers in disadvantaged communities. First, the Disadvantaged Communities – Single-family Solar Homes (DAC-SASH) program, modeled after the existing Single-family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) program, will provide upfront financial incentives toward the installation of solar for…

CARB awards $10 million in cap-and-trade funding to help communities curb air pollution

Sarina Soor
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“Furthering California’s effort to put billions of dollars of cap-and-trade auction proceeds to work improving quality of life, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) awarded $10 million in grants to help 25 community-groups and three Native American Tribes reduce air pollution in their neighborhoods. The grants will help communities identify areas with most harmful air…

Convening of the Disadvantaged Communities Advisory Group – Apr 4

Sarina Soor
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April 4, 2018 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION 1516 Ninth Street 1st Floor, Art Rosenfeld Hearing Room, Sacramento, California 95814 Wheelchair Accessible To join the meeting: VIA COMPUTER: Go to https://energy.webex.com/ec. If this Event is shown on the list of events, click on its “Join” link. If it is not listed, click…

California shows how to fight climate change and help underserved communities

Sarina Soor
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“Thanks to the work of the California Climate Equity Coalition, 35 percent of resources must be invested in the state’s most polluted and economically disadvantaged communities, communities that have experienced decades of disinvestment, redlining and heavy pollution.Thanks to the work of the California Climate Equity Coalition, of which my organization the Greenlining Insitute is a…

2.4 Million SCE customers to pay lower electric bills, power officials say

Sarina Soor
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“In dozens of cities and unincorporated communities in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, businesses and residents will soon be paying lower electric bills for greener energy under a just-launched community choice aggregate utility, power officials said. The Clean Power Alliance of Southern California began buying power on Feb. 1 for about 2,000 Los Angeles County…

Better Together: Linking and Leveraging Energy Programs for Low-Income Households

Sarina Soor
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“EPA is committed to helping communities benefit from energy efficiency and renewable energy. To facilitate this effort, EPA is developing a series of case studies and webinars to highlight effective efforts by state and local agencies, non-profits, and utilities to bring EE/RE to low-income households. This webinar series explored the topic of linking and leveraging…

New Financing Options for Solar+Storage in Low-Income Communities – Mar. 29

Sarina Soor
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“Current clean energy financing models do not sufficiently serve low-income communities. As a result, solar+storage projects are vastly underrepresented in affordable housing and community facilities, meaning that low-income communities are unable to enjoy the benefits of clean, affordable and resilient power. A new paper by Clean Energy Group describes emerging finance models to address the energy equity challenge…

Energy commission approves disadvantaged communities advisory group members

Sarina Soor
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“The California Energy Commission today approved 10 members of a new advisory group that will help ensure benefits of the 21st century grid reach low-income households and hard-to-reach customers such as those in tribal and rural communities. The Disadvantaged Communities Advisory Group will advise the Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on ways to help disadvantaged…

Utilities planning to move Californians to time-of-use pricing need solutions for low-income customers

Sarina Soor
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“Last month, all three of California’s major investor-owned utilities submitted applications to the California Public Utilities Commission detailing their respective strategies for how to transition residential customers to time-of-use pricing. Time-of-use pricing, if done right, is a low-cost strategy to help meet California’s climate and clean energy goals. This innovative tool can help the state…

California takes 5 steps toward energy equity

Sarina Soor
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“Low-income renters and affordable housing owners face disproportionately high energy burdens—the percentage of income going to utility bills—and improving access to clean energy means lower bills, more housing security, and a cleaner, healthier environment for more Californians. As a part of Energy Efficiency for All (EEFA), a collaborative effort between affordable housing, energy efficiency, clean…