UPPER LAKE >> Located in a sparsely settled, rural area with no local energy sources nearby, Lake County is challenged by what seems to be a continuous escalation of rising fuel costs to generate electricity, yet a new entity has forged a way forward, to secure a more sustainable electrical grid to power homes and businesses.
Northern Rural Energy Network (NREN) an associate of Lake Area Planning Council, along with three other partners which covers 17 counties in Northern California, is crafting ways to make electric utility more affordable. Jennifer Brennan, keynote speaker at the monthly meeting of the Western Region Town Hall met at the Habematolel Hall to inform residents of plans afoot to assist energy consumers to pay for an essential staple. “NREN is funded with rate payer dollars and approved by the state Public Utilites Commission, to reduce energy consumption in hard-to-reach communities like Lake County,” Brennan said. “We have several specific programs we’ll be implementing in Lake County. The first is our Residential Education and Outreach program.”
NREN has launched this program in April which demonstrates methods to curtail energy use and hopefully reduce energy bills. The centerpiece of the program is NREN’s distribution of free energy efficiency kits to all PG&E customers. “It’s a box chock full of items: LED light bulbs to replace old fashioned bulbs and over a year, users can save $250,” Brennan said. Also included is, a smart power strip with plug-in energy monitor. As part of the program, customers are offered free home assessments. It is done over the phone as a staffer asks a slate of questions; how is your refrigerator? How much insulation do you have in your attic? What kind of heating system do you have? Then they will issue a free report to help homeowners prioritize, get incentives and rebates.
“We got 200 energy efficiency kits out in the community,” said Brennan. There are two ways to obtain them. Anyone with a PG&E account can go to the NREN website and apply for the kits to be shipped directly to the home. “We’ve been carrying out events at senior centers. Yesterday we had another event at Live Oaks Senior Center. So, anyone who is on a board, a member of an organization, make it is so, you don’t have to navigate a computer, and some are not comfortable with them. If you’re interested to set up an event let me know.”
In addition, they are setting up a residential rebate, just for Lake County residents. Brennan noted she needs to replace her 30-year-old furnace, and her 20-year-old air conditioner. “If you invest in an Energy Star refrigerator, dishwasher, you can get a $600 rebate, same thing with a water heater heat pump and air conditioner. “But of course, invest in more efficient technology, or you can go spend $60 to $80 a month to heat 40 gallons of water with an old – fashioned electric resistance water heater, or switch to a heat pump water heater and heat 65 gallons for $13 per month,” Brennan said.
But achieving savings will require an up – front investment, which is why they have the rebates. But the heat pump water heaters are quite a bit more expensive. “I’m personally looking at a 40 gallon water heater in the Home Depot website for $1,800 but a rebate will reduce the cost. We are working now to design the finance program,” added Brennan. “We’re hoping to offer a zero percent interest rate and working to get that type of product. And we’re hoping to provide micro loans and bridge loans so the design for the financial program is ongoing.” She said this program is not slated to begin until the end of the year.
However, NREN hopes to offer energy assessments for commercial and government buildings, with rebates. They are also planning to implement a direct install program. This is where they go into a certain sector and implement for example, a heat pump water heater at no cost. But before proceeding they want to get feedback from residents in Lake County.
“We have a third-party consultant, who is distributing a survey, on our website; northernren.org.,” Brennan said. “If you go to the website, under services, you’ll see a page where there’s live links and you can get answers to questions, about what you need, what keeps you from investing in energy efficiency. Whatever the barriers are, we’re collecting information to design the program specifically for what Lake County residents’ need. And we’ll have a third-party consultant who is doing interviews.”
Another plan calls for a study of focus groups which will concentrate on commercial buildings. The idea is to focus on government buildings in August and the same with Clearlake business at a forum in Lower Lake in September. “We don’t want to design a program that doesn’t work in Lake County,” Brennan said. “Lake County is very different from Mendocino. We get that information on the ground to know what we need and how to administer the program.”
