Rural Voices Part 5 | Sierra Business Council
The Sierra Nevada region is famous for its mountains, valleys, and lakes. It’s also home to a vibrant and diverse rural community. The region is dotted by a plethora of small towns and unincorporated areas. While many residents are drawn to the Sierra because of its enchanted beauty and historical significance, it comes with its challenges; income levels are often lower than our urban counterparts, and goods and services are more expensive and time consuming to access. Consequently, many residents and businesses throughout the region have a higher energy burden and thus, a greater need for utility incentives to become more energy efficient and resilient. However, since many Sierra towns are geographically isolated it is difficult for all customers to easily take advantage of utility energy efficiency programs. It is often the most vulnerable of utility customers who do not have equitable access to utility energy efficiency programs in which they pay into every month.
Over the years, the investor-owned utilities have been directed by the California Public Utilities Commission to become more cost effective. As a result, the programs that directly install energy efficiency measures have transitioned to a pay-for-performance business model. The pay-for-performance business model makes it difficult to justify traveling to remote areas where there is a lower population density with fewer storefront opportunities. To remain profitable, these programs are compelled to limit options for customer eligibility and energy efficiency measures. In terms of capitalizing on utility financing programs, rural businesses are often too small to meet the loan eligibility requirements for the energy efficiency upgrade.
Some Sierra communities face unique burdens where their internal capacities are unevenly balanced against visitation rates. The Lake Tahoe region has a population of 55,000, and yet it must be able to manage over 15 million visitors each year. Tahoe towns, like many of Sierra jurisdictions, have limited budgets and lack the staff resources to monitor and apply for programs that would save them money and energy.
Like many other communities, rural or otherwise, 2020 was a rough year. The Sierra Nevada was faced with a bombardment of challenges from the COVID pandemic, catastrophic wildfires and resultant smoke, and disruptive public safety, power shutoff (PSPS) events. From this slew of challenges, energy resilience rose up as a practical solution for many of our communities to pursue.
The Sierra Business Council (SBC) has served Sierra Nevada communities since 1994, with a triple bottom line approach to create a sustainable region in terms of economic prosperity, environmental responsibility, and social fairness. Our climate and energy program assists communities throughout the Sierra to proactively plan and address climate change through actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We live in and work for the Sierra and over the years have built strong relationships and trust with our region's communities.
SBC provides communities with energy-related technical assistance, GHG reduction assessments and planning guidance, and access to energy efficiency incentives and financing support. A major SBC climate and energy program includes implementing the Sierra Nevada Energy Watch program under the auspices of PG&E. We believe the Rural Regional Energy Network (Rural REN) will complement existing programs available under PG&E. We view this as a collaborative opportunity to bridge the gaps and more comprehensively serve our rural regions.
Sherry Hao, Justine Quealy, and Kari Sinoff
Climate and Energy Team
Sierra Business Council