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Mayor, housing authority and partners announce solar installations for public housing sites
Summary
City officials announced plans to install about 375 kilowatts of solar on three public housing sites, aiming to reduce energy costs for residents and create green jobs; the project uses virtual net metering and pairs city incentives with state multifamily funding.
Mayor Gavin Newsom, Housing Authority Executive Director Henry Alvarez and partners including McCormick Baron Salazar and Sunwell Energy announced July 7 that solar installations will be added to three public housing sites in San Francisco, producing roughly 375 kilowatts of new solar capacity across the properties. City officials said the work will reduce energy costs for residents, create local "green-collar" jobs, and leverage both the city's solar incentive program and state multifamily (MASH) funds.
Henry Alvarez described the effort as a major step for the housing authority and said the installations are intended to reduce operating and resident energy costs. Mayor Newsom highlighted the city's rapid solar growth: officials said local installations grew from roughly 200 to over 850 in about a year'a 450 percent increase tied to the city's incentive program. The administration said San Francisco leads California on a per-capita basis for solar installations and aims to continue scaling the program toward a long-range goal of 15,000 installations by 2018.
Ed Harrington, general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, said the PUC budgeted $4.5 million last year for solar incentives and planned $5 million for the upcoming cycle; he said 56 applicants had qualified for a low-income discount. Tony Salazar of McCormick Baron Salazar said the developer would retrofit affordable and public-housing projects with solar and Jonathan Goldstein of Sunwell Energy described the installation entity and praised the CPUC's virtual net-metering program as enabling solar benefits for renters.
Speakers said the combined package of local incentives, state multifamily funds, and utility programs will make installations feasible at affordable properties and expected construction and installation to begin within months, with electricity production slated by year'end. City officials estimated the projects would create roughly 25 jobs overall for the construction and installation work.
