What Has SJVCEO Been Up To in May

First off we hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful Memorial Day. The SJVCEO team, like many, enjoyed an additional day off for the holiday before coming back to work full force on energy saving projects.

Over the last month the team and our energy champion partners have been working to finish up projects that have been in the pipeline as well as compiling lists of new projects that are being outlined in capital improvement project listings. During the summer months we use our time to start laying out plans of attack for new energy projects as well as using it as planning time for upcoming community outreach events.

For the VIEW Partnership many of our energy champion partners are busy working away on budgets for the their cities and counties. So during the summer we focus on back end planning. Our team works to make sure that all information is current and all projects numbers are correct. During this time we also like to touch base with our SCE cities/counties on how they are progressing towards their next level on the Energy Leader Partnership model. We want to make sure that we are informing the partners on what items ca be accomplished with the help of their Edison reps.

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:

1. Updates from the EE Coordinating Committee: for meeting updates, reminders on comment deadlines, and a change in schedule for business plan development, see this week’s updates from the CA EE Coordinating Committee (CAEECC).  For more background on the Committee and how they facilitate local government and other stakeholder feedback on how EE funds are administered, check out the CAEECC website or take a look at this FAQ.

2. Communicating on EE: Need help communicating the value of EE in your community? This GreenBiz excerpt from the book Energy is Human describes some best practices for rethinking how we talk about efficiency.

3. Need EE Code Trainings? Did you know you can request a Title 24 Part 6 Essentials training be brought to a location of your choice? You can – and it’s free of charge – click here for details.

Memorial Day Fun

With Memorial Day being next week we thought it might be a BRIGHT idea to talk about how you can save while celebrating! Also when I say save I am not speaking about saving on party supplies I am talking about energy savings. Many times when large holidays are being celebrated conservation ideas go right out of the window. We seem to focus on being a great host and covering all of the bases for the party. This year lets try to keep conservation top of mind starting with energy conservation.

This Memorial Day we will help you conserve energy with a few easy steps and tricks that take as little as a few minutes to do.

1.) Window Treatments

Many homeowners do not care for window treatments such as blinds because they impede the view of the outdoors. But having an exposed windows during the summer time can cause heat gain in your home. Having blinds lowered on a sunny summer day can reduce heat gain by over 45%. If you would prefer to not install blinds and already have drapes on your windows we can still help you save. If you close yours blinds on a window that is receiving direct sunlight you may be able to reduce heat gain by 33%.

Value-Added Producer Grant Program Training

Recorded Webinar Training Available on the 2016 Value-Added Producer Grant Program for California

A recorded webinar training on USDA Rural Development's Value-Added Producer Grant program is now available for California applicants and other interested parties. The Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) funds planning and working capital expenses to help agricultural producers process and market new products, expand into new markets, and strengthen the rural economy.

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:

1. Save the Date: the Capital Region’s Climate Readiness Collaborative will hold its Quarterly Meeting June 21^st, and will feature work around developing resilient communities, including a project pursuing Living Building Certification and Zero Net Energy affordable housing.

2. EDAC Survey to Local Governments: There is a special opportunity to take part in a short local government survey (released this week) to help the Energy Data Access Committee better understand how current energy data rules align with the needs of local governments in their development of greenhouse gas inventories and climate action plans.

3. Need weatherization funds? I’ve been getting a number of questions regarding weatherization funding, so I checked in with a representative on weatherization funding opportunities at California’s Department of Community Services and Development (CSD) – who shared information on three weatherization programs CSD administers to provide California with EE and solar funds – and how local governments can get involved.

Greywater Training

Are you interested in becoming a Water Sense Certified Landscaper? If so, make sure you check out this months training in Fresno. 

Register Here!

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:

1. EE Coordinating Committee Update: Interested in how agricultural energy efficiency programs will provide funding in coming years? The Agricultural Subcommittee meeting is going on today – click here to learn how to join in person or by phone/web.

2. For a weekly round up from the Coordinating Committee, click here.

3. More on EE Program Planning: as the business plans for future EE programming develop, the CPUC shares additional guidance on what those business plans should look like. To learn more, click here.

Guest Blog Post: Good News, Bad News

*This Posting was written by Rick Phelps is Executive Director of the High Sierra Energy Foundation.  The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of his employer.*

“Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” Mark Twain

No one is really sure that Mark Twain actually said that, but are only sure they sound like the words he might have spoken. Nonetheless, they provide a good lead-in to this story.

The last ten years have been good news for renewable non-carbon energy. Renewable production increased by 22% while fossil energy production increased by less than 1%, including a nearly 40% decrease in coal! Solar photovoltaic and wind grew by more than six times while nuclear fell by 20%. Interestingly, population in the United States grew by 20 percent at the same time per capita consumption rose only 7%, which is indicative of significant efficiency and behavioral improvements. *

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:

1. Call for Posters: Today is the final day to submit an idea to showcase what happening in your city, county or COG at the SEEC Forum! Learn more and submit an idea here. 

2. EECC Update: The Public Sector Stage 2 meeting of the EE Coordinating Committee was held this week to review what problem statements and solutions Program Administrators are identifying as they plan energy efficiency programming that will be available to us all in 2017 and beyond. Some meeting highlights, links to presentations, and instructions on how to submit a comment, are here. Other meetings (including Workforce Education & Training, Industrial, Emerging Technologies, and Codes & Standards) also took place this week – you can find meeting presentations on the EECC website at caeecc.org. Looking for background on the EECC process? Click here.

3. Federal Webinars: a list of energy-related webinars targeting state, local, and tribal governments (including financing for tribes, and EPA Portfolio Manager training's) released this week is available here. For more on available training, click here.

What Has SJVCEO Been Up to in April

As we wave goodbye to April we  slowly embark into summer and those hot temperatures that are around the corner...which no one is looking forward to. With the beginning of summer and rising temps the SJVCEO team is blazing a trail into its energy saving goals for all three of its areas in 2016.

With the VIEW Partnership the SJVCEO team is working away on energy projects. With organizational change ups with the partnerships IOU partners projects are now beginning to trickle in. A few of the city and county partners in VIEW are taking advantage of the Savings by Design program that the state has to offer. The Savings by Design program was created for building owners to take a whole building or systems approach to energy savings. Instead of completing individual energy efficiency projects owners would take a look with the design team to see what systems or design tweaks the whole building can benefit from. This program is available to customers within California as it is funded by all six IOU's within the state. We are excited to see what savings and projects come out of the Savings by Design collaboration. The VIEW Partnership also was busy with the City of Visalia's Earth Day Event. The partnership always enjoys attending the event to spread the word of energy efficiency and conservation. This year's event was filled with plenty of sunshine and had a great turn out!