Save Money–and Energy–By Going Electric!
December Newsletter
The Community Environmental Council is committed to bringing affordable solutions for 100% clean, renewable energy to California Central Coast residents. Natural gas appliances continue our dependence on fossil fuels and emit a wide range of air pollutants. More than half of all US households have natural gas in their homes. As a result, the air indoors – where we spend about 90% of the time – is often more polluted than outdoor air. Getting fossil fuels out of our homes eliminates air pollution from natural gas, making our indoor living spaces healthier, and reducing impacts to our climate.
That’s why we partnered with the Tri-County Regional Energy Network (3C-REN). 3C-REN helps single-family homeowners and multi-family properties access money-saving home energy upgrades and cutting-edge home electrification solutions.
We’re here to help you find affordable ways to go fossil free and electrify your life. Read on for the latest information to help you save when you make the switch to electric.
Efficient Electric Technologies Are Eligible for Steep Discounts
Want to bring the latest clean energy technologies and appliances to your home? Looking for a good solution to heat your home this winter (and cool it in the summer)? It’s an exciting time to consider an upgrade with three financial programs that can be combined to slash the costs of home electrification.
The 3C-REN Single-Family Home Energy Savings Program can reduce the cost of cutting-edge home energy upgrades. Single-family homeowners in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties can receive discounted retrofits for all-electric heat pumps, efficient home appliances, climate-friendly water heaters, and a variety of other money-saving energy efficiency upgrades by signing up with the 3C-REN Single Family program. The benefits of the 3C-REN program can be combined with additional incentives from Central Coast Community Energy’s Electrify Your Home Program, as well as tax credits and other benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Whether you’re replacing an old natural gas furnace with a highly efficient heat pump for heating (and add cooling as a bonus!), trying to lower your carbon footprint, or want a safer and more efficient home, 3C-REN can help. In addition, contractors that are enrolled with 3C-REN’s program are vetted by the agency and offer competitive pricing on projects that are moving us towards a fossil-free future. Learn more and connect with a representative here.
Are you a contractor who delivers home energy retrofits for heating, cooling, energy efficiency, weatherization, or water heaters in the counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, or Ventura? Then sign up to join the program and become a participating contractor here.
Getting Closer to 100% Clean Energy with New Incentives for Multi-Family Residential Building Owners
California's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045 is inspiring a wave of building ‘electrification’ – a shift away from appliances fueled by natural gas to ones powered by California’s clean and increasingly renewable electricity. The Community Environmental Council has a partnership with the statewide Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) program and 3C-REN Multi-family Home Energy Savings program to accelerate the transition to all-electric, carbon neutral buildings.
Want to learn more about the monetary incentives and technical assistance to bring cutting edge energy retrofits and solar to your multifamily property? Here's two easy steps you can take:
Get more information about the 3C-REN Multi-family Home Energy Savings programs on their website.
See if your multi-family residential property is eligible to install solar through the SOMAH program. Learn more about SOMAH’s benefits by visiting this link.
Find out how CEC is helping electrify Santa Barbara area multifamily housing in our latest blog.
Electrify Your Ride Too!
In October, the Community Environmental Council hosted a webinar, Get Charged: Everything You Need to Drive Electric, that provided the latest information on EV purchasing, leasing, and charging. The webinar features CEC’s Climate Justice Manager Jennifer Hernández plus a number of guest speakers with first-hand EV experience. Check out our EV FAQ for more helpful resources about EV financial support, incentives, EV purchasing guides, new Inflation Reduction Act EV tax credits, and more.
Our work to help families electrify their ride will continue in 2023. CEC and its partner, Ecology Action, were recently awarded funding by Electrify America to boost the EVs for Every One campaign. This effort is part of Electrify America’s broader commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, and supports the existing plan to invest $200 million in California for zero emission vehicle infrastructure and education programs through mid-2024.
In the coming months, we will be working together to expand Electric Vehicle (EV) ride and drive events, host community EV showcases, deliver EV purchase guidance, and conduct EV webinars. Ninety-five percent of events and engagement activities will be conducted in low-income or disadvantaged communities identified by California Climate Investment program. Stay tuned for more info!
Creating Waves of Change: CEC’s Climate Stewards Talk Local Action & Impact
Thursday, January 12, 2023
6:30 - 7:30 p.m. PT
Virtual
Join us to get inspired by a powerful showcase of community-led action. You’ll hear from a handful of CEC’s Climate Stewards (a growing alumni network now 80+ strong) as they share their experience taking the course, the community action projects they designed, and how they are putting new-found climate knowledge to work within Central Coast communities. You’ll also learn how you can step up by getting involved in their projects, starting your own, or becoming a Climate Steward yourself.
Breaking Up With Fossil Fuels Series
Electrify Your Life: Top Ways to Ditch Fossil Fuels
Thursday, February 16, 2023
12:00 - 1:15 p.m. PT
Virtual
Join us to learn how one family kicked their daily fossil fuel habit––and how you and your family can too. We’ll cover the most impactful changes you can make today to create all-electric homes, commutes and communities that are safer and healthier. Curious about the advantages and incentives with electrifying your home? Need more information about making the switch to drive electric? We’ll share all this and more, along with local, state, and federal programs that provide incentives, rebates, and other benefits to support you in making changes that fit your lifestyle and your budget. There will be an extended Q&A period at the end of the webinar to help answer your questions live. Co-presented with Ecology Action and 3CREN.
Thanks to a $5,000 match from Hayward Lumber, a $10,000 match from Randy Solakian Estates Group and a $100,000 match from the John C. Mithun Foundation, all gifts made to CEC in the next two weeks will be QUADRUPLED!
Support Critical Work Like This
Recognized as a 2020 California Nonprofit of the Year and a City of Santa Barbara Climate Hero, CEC is led by CEO Sigrid Wright, 2022 Congressional Woman of the Year. See our most recent impact report to learn how we are serving California's Central Coast by advancing rapid and equitable solutions to the climate crisis.
Learn more about CEC's Campaign to Protect Our Climate and make a gift to fuel our work at cecsb.org/donate You can also text CEC to 801801 to make a donation today. And, if you are 70.5 or older, you can make an end-of-year roll-over gift from your IRA (up to $100,000 per person). To learn more or make a tax-free donation from your IRA account, please contact Karl Hutterer at klhutterer@gmail.com.
