The Redwood Coast Energy Watch is a local government partnership with Pacific Gas and Electric Company which was created in 2006 to help Humboldt County utility customers lower their energy bills and enjoy a cleaner environment.
The RCEW partnership:
- Provides education, technical assistance, and direct installation services for the small commercial, public agency, and residential market sectors.
- Operates the Redwood Coast Energy Resource Center and toll-free Energy Answerline to deliver information, workshops, and technical assistance to the general public.
- Guides and assists decision-makers and the general public on emerging technologies, renewable energy, regional standards, and new policy initiatives such as climate change and green building.
- Works with public agencies on a range of strategic initiatives to develop local codes and standards that encourage energy efficiency and promote energy security and reliability.
Current RCEW program activities include:
- Public Agency Energy Efficiency: Provides public agencies with specialized assistance to identify energy efficiency opportunities, develop project specifications, secure financing, apply for incentives, and coordinate retrofits.
- Small Business Direct Install: The Small Business Direct Install program (SBDI) is a turn-key program that helps businesses to reduce operating costs and improve their bottom line through energy efficiency projects. SBDI offers free, start-to-finish technical assistance and instant rebates to help reduce the cost of installing efficient lighting, refrigeration improvements and other energy efficiency measures.
- Non-Profit Energy Efficiency Program: Provides a service to match our incentives with foundation funds. These combined funds often cover 75-100% of total project costs.
- Residential Direct Install: This program helps Humboldt County residents to increase the energy efficiency of their homes, typically for free. Trained crews visit neighborhoods to exchange inefficient light bulbs and hot water components with more efficient devices. The program also hosts special events to exchange products such as LED holiday lights.
- Time-Of-Sale Home Energy Assessments: The Time of Sale Pilot Program streamlines implementation of home energy efficiency measures by uniting energy efficiency expertise, real-estate professionals, motivated lenders and home buyers at the “golden hour” for renovation: when the home is vacant and a funding mechanism (the mortgage) is in place.
Visit the PG&E Energy Watch Partnerships website for general information on this and other Energy Watch programs throughout the PG&E service territory.
