San Mateo County cities getting $11.5M clean energy grants

PCE is funded by ratepayers, Marshall said, with occasional funding from the California Public Utilities Commission for specific projects. The PCE board set an upper-limit target for cash reserves and, if that amount is exceeded, a surplus fund committee meets to decide how to to reallocate the funding to the benefit of customers and communities.

Grant funding from PCE — a joint powers agency that assists San Mateo County and the city of Los Banos in providing clean-energy electricity — totals $11.5 million, although individual cities were given specific funding based on electric load and number of customers.

There isn’t a deadline for grant money use, which is non-competitive, although cities must submit project proposals to PCE and spend it within two years of allocation. Applications for the project were released last Friday.

“It’s meant to be flexible funding that is focused on anything that really aligns with Peninsula Clean Energy’s mission. So that would be things like projects that switch out gas appliances,” Marshall said as an example. “We have another local government that's looking to use the funding for putting solar on their streetlights in areas where they're having trouble maintaining connection.”

Although the grant process has just begun, cities like Burlingame are looking to large-scale projects that include electrifying the library or other non-electric city buildings, as well as programs to help residents transition to clean energy use in everyday life.

“We'd like to provide rebates to our residents, that may be connected with our recently adopted gas leaf blower fan, so maybe provide some rebates for electric leaf blowers and maybe help residents do some energy home audits,” Burlingame Sustainability Coordinator Sigalle Michael said. “We're exploring both how to enhance facilities and also give back some sort of benefit to residents in the community.”

The city recently had an introductory meeting with PCE on potential options for spending their potential allocation, which totals $540,317, Michael said. They’re also interested in putting out a survey to see what incentives residents would find most beneficial.

“Because the whole idea of electrification and climate resilience can maybe feel a little intimidating, and I think people may really be searching for how to’s,” Michael said. “This type of program will be like one step into ‘this is what you can do, and we can actually support you in doing that.’”

Redwood City is looking at putting its grant money toward solar power installation on a city facility, Public Works Director Terence Kyaw said.

“All these government agencies are looking for alternative resiliency,” Kyaw said of the benefits of the grant program.

Solar panels, for example, could provide backup battery power so the city wouldn’t need to run a generator for the chosen facility in case of power outage. But the grant won’t cover the entire cost, which is around $4 million, Kyaw said.

The city is still in the early stages of analyzing which city facility would be best for soar panels as well as just how they’ll apply for the money to be used, Kyaw said.

Cities can submit more than one project proposal, Marshall said, and topics can range from building electrification and electric vehicle charging stations to heat pump systems in government facilities.

“It's everything from larger infrastructure projects around electrification and energy to smaller, specific needs that that city or county might have,” she said.

The funding is part of a larger community redistribution effort that also covers $10 million in residential battery loans, funding for upgraded clean electric and water heating in schools and a $300 income-qualified bill credit.

San Mateo has been allocated the most grant money, at $1,406,718, with Redwood City at $1,265,866, South San Francisco at $1,263,372 and Daly City at $1,059,658. Smaller cities like Portola Valley and Woodside received $64,415 and $112,915, respectively, with middle-sized cities falling somewhere in the middle.

holly@smdailyjournal.com

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