Sacramento Wins Several Grants That Will Help Customers Save Money on Energy
Funds will help SMUD promote wide-ranging energy efficiency home improvements

Customers of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) will soon be learning a lot about improving the energy efficiency of their homes and businesses thanks to several government grants awarded today that total more than $36 million, about one-third of the total award money available for the entire state.

Each grant will provide funding to help SMUD customers with significant energy efficiency improvements and realize lower energy bills. The grants will also help SMUD reduce system demand, resulting in grid reliability as well as provide environmental benefits by reducing the carbon footprint associated with power plant emissions.

The awards are funded through the California Energy Commission’s State Energy Program, which is funded by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The grants are intended to help communities like Sacramento develop, promote, implement, and manage energy efficiency and conservation projects and programs. Energy efficiency and conservation are the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable energy technologies.

“This is great news for SMUD customers and for our community,” said John DiStasio, SMUD General Manager and CEO. “SMUD has been a leader in developing and implementing energy efficiency programs to help our customers save money and reduce demand. These grants will help us to accomplish an ambitious 1.5 percent annual energy-savings goal that surpasses the state’s goal by 50 percent.”

The most significant grant for SMUD customers is $20 million awarded to SMUD to promote and implement a new way of improving energy efficiency – the whole-house retrofit approach. SMUD on behalf of the Sacramento Regional Energy Alliance, a consortium of local governments, educational institutions, government agencies, non-profits and private companies, will use the funding to;

• Double the number of homes retrofitted through the Whole House Performance program, with each home seeking 30 percent average savings;
  
  
• Work with a Building America Grant recipient to implement a neighborhood approach to home retrofits. This entails selecting neighborhoods with groups of homes with similar characteristics and offering energy efficiency packages at volume-discount prices. At least one neighborhood will be in a Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency lower-income target area;
  
  
• Pilot a comprehensive multi-family retrofit model providing incentives to building owners with a goal of 20 percent savings. Moderate to low-income buildings will be targeted;
  
  
• Improve the quality of installations for low-income weatherized homes and Sacramento Housing Redevelopment Agency Neighborhood Stabilization Program which focuses on moderate to low-income renovated foreclosed homes;
  
  
• Provide basic audits to select homes and encourage deeper participation in SMUD programs such as ENERGY STAR appliance purchases, building envelope sealing and air conditioning replacements;
  
  
• Coordinate with Los Rios Community College District to develop a SMUD green academy, training contractors in auditing skills, building performance science and more.

Customers will be able to start taking advantage of the program when it is implemented in early summer.

SMUD customers will also benefit from a State Energy Program grant awarded today to the County of Sacramento to facilitate development of property tax-based financing. It would allow SMUD customers to borrow money to purchase energy efficiency retrofits to be paid back through property tax assessments by utilizing Assembly Bill 811 financing through a partnership with CaliforniaFirst.

CaliforniaFirst enables borrowers to make improvements to their home with no out-of-pocket costs. A homeowner not intending to own a property for the duration of the loan payback period is assured that if they sell, the loan obligation goes with the property. For customers that do not want a loan tied to their property tax assessment, SMUD’s loan program will continue to be available as an alternative for these projects. The property tax-based financing program will be implemented by the regional collaborative. SMUD hopes to have this program available to customers by this June.

SMUD business customers are also expected to benefit from State Energy Program grants awarded to several commercial consulting companies to implement proven commercial building energy efficiency technologies.

The awards announced today are in addition to two more grants that will help SMUD customers implement significant energy efficiency technologies and lower their energy costs. Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency and Community Resource Project, Inc. received $26 million in federal grant funding to rehabilitate or weatherize lower-income homes in SMUD’s territory. Also, the cities of Sacramento, Elk Grove and Folsom and County of Sacramento have sub-granted to SMUD $2 million to support whole-house retrofit incentives for SMUD customers in those jurisdictions. SMUD applied for this funding on behalf of all the cities and the county.

As the nation’s sixth largest publicly owned utility, SMUD has been providing low-cost, reliable electricity for more than 60 years to Sacramento County (and a small portion of Placer County). SMUD is a recognized industry leader and award winner for its innovative energy efficiency programs, renewable power technologies, and for its sustainable solutions for a healthier environment. The utility is on track to become the first large California utility to receive 20 percent of its energy from renewable resources. For more information, visit smud.org.