The Lancaster City Council has accepted funding for Lancaster Choice Energy’s Energy Efficiency Program Plan. Approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on April 26, the three-year plan authorizes nearly 1.2 million in funds from SCE’s Energy Efficiency Portfolio budget to fund local programs to help both residential and small business customers find new ways to lower their energy use and bills.
Lancaster Choice Energy (LCE) is the first Community Choice Aggregate (CCA) program in Southern California – and in Southern California Edison territory – to receive approval to offer these free energy efficiency programs to its customers.
“Lancaster is known for being a record-setting ‘city of firsts.’ We are pleased to announce that Lancaster Choice Energy is now the first CCA in Southern California to be approved by the CPUC for these innovative programs,” said Mayor R. Rex Parris. “These new energy efficiency programs will enhance our city’s sustainability efforts, while also helping LCE consumers save money.”
LCE allows customers to reduce their impact on the environment by offering most of its power from renewable resources. An even better way for customers to save the environment and their budgets is by simply using less energy in the first place. This is the goal of LCE’s new Energy Efficiency Plan.
One initiative of the two-pronged Energy Efficiency Plan is the Energy Advisor program, which will offer personalized energy advice for Lancaster homeowners. The Energy Advisor program will provide LCE’s residential customers with free energy surveys, which highlight ways to reduce their power usage. Advisors identify free and low-cost options available to residents, including weatherization, efficiency upgrades, and special financing programs for energy-efficient appliances and equipment.
The second component of the plan is the Small Commercial Direct Install program, which proposes energy efficiency solutions for small businesses in Lancaster. Small business customers will be offered free or low-cost energy efficiency retrofits designed to reduce their overall usage. By installing energy efficient lighting, refrigeration, and controls, a business can often lower the cost of running their business while reducing carbon emissions.
Marin Clean Energy, California’s first CCA, and the San Francisco Bay Regional Energy Network also showed support for LCE’s plan, filing a formal letter with the CPUC calling LCE’s plan “a good model for the rest of the state,” noting that it will add value for local ratepayers.
The new Energy Advisor and Small Commercial Direct Install programs are expected to launch in autumn 2018.
For more details about the program, visit www.LancasterChoiceEnergy.com or call (661) 723-6084.
