What has SJVCEO been up to?

Hello and happy new years to all of our loyal blog readers! We hope you have had a wonderful holiday and a safe new years.

We apologize for the long delay in posting an organizational update. SJVCEO has been busier than ever and not complaining. Since our last post in March our team has been working non-stop on energy projects, state utility outreach as well as policy work. So lets dig in!

The VIEW Partnership is very excited to say we have our FIRST partner city, City of Visalia, who has reached platinum within the Southern California Edison Energy Leader Partnership. We will be awarding the certificate to the city at our upcoming annual awards luncheon this week. To reach platinum level the city has saved over 2,114,358 kWh which equates to about $613,163 saved in energy costs. That money saved has gone back into the cities general funds and put to good use for the residents of the city.

Many of our VIEW partners have looked into and or signed up for the Southern California Edison streetlight retrofit program. In total we have eight cities who are in the que for what is being called the LS1 option E program within the utility. Through this program partners upgrade all Edison owned streetlights to LED and the cost of the upgrade will show as a line item on their bill for up to 20 years. Many of the partners will not see any change to their electricity bills as much of the energy savings will pay for the monthly cost. We are very excited to see how the large scale upgrade in the valley will turnout when complete within the next year.



Much of the partnerships summer and fall was dedicated to community outreach and informational meetings relating to AB2672. During all outreach the partnership provided free flu shots to residents, energy saving information as well as a time to speak with the CPUC commissioners in charge of deciding the direction of the state assembly bill. The partnership will continue to work with the state in outreach in regards to AB2672 and holding its annual energy awareness month events.

Our HDR Partnership has been very busy at work as well. Many partners are moving forward with lighting upgrades as well as the same street lighting program as the VIEW partners, LS1 option E. Our partners did throw a curve ball at Edison when asking if the LED lighting can with stand Mojave desert like conditions. Edison went to their researchers to make sure the equipment being used would hold to those conditions. We are happy to say that the LED technology passes the test but will have a shorter useful life than if it were in more temperate conditions. We are excited to for the upgrades as this change in lighting will help with maintenance and operation of street lighting for partners.

METU is off to a great start for the 2018 program year! Our team was able to close out 2017 with an insulation project in the City of Avenal. This project is projected to save the city more than 1/3 of its current energy costs for one of its largest public facilities and significant source of energy usage for the city. Savings verification reporting for the City of Avenal is planned for the 1st quarter of 2018.

Lighting audits were completed in partnership with PG&E at the end of 2017 for three large publicly-owned facilities in the City of Madera. These projects are anticipated to get underway in the first quarter of 2018.

The City of Arvin has experienced recent personnel changes. However, METU was able to get the new representative up to speed on recent progress and not allow the City of Arvin to lose any of its momentum for continuing energy savings projects. Following a coordination meeting with PG&E and the Kern County Energy watch, METU will assist the city of Arvin with additional lighting projects, HVAC replacement support, as well as assist with the tools to facilitate community outreach to promote PG&E programs.

Last but not least, METU has also been busy with benchmarking efforts for the cities of Sanger and Selma. Municipal Readiness Reports detailing project pipelines will be distributed soon!

This past year has been an adventure for the team, but we are very excited and thankful to continue to do the work that we are allowed to do on behalf of our partners.

Stay tuned for our next update!