Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Energy Efficiency topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
BayREN update: pilots, multifamily enrollment and the BRRRR refrigerant pilot; staff warn of timing risk with refuse-rate funding
Summary
The department reported BayREN 2024 activity, including commercial small-business projects, multifamily enrollments and a new refrigerant-replacement pilot (BRRRR). Staff also briefed commissioners on the refuse-rate and city budget timelines, saying rate decisions and city budget cycles are imperfectly aligned and could affect department impound-account funding.
At its Oct. 28 meeting the commission heard an annual update on BayREN (the Bay Area Regional Energy Network), program performance and near-term priorities.
Loew Chu, BayREN program manager, and colleagues described BayREN's regional role (nine Bay Area counties), its emphasis on equity and a 2024 year of activity that included hundreds of small-business energy-efficiency projects and multifamily program enrollments. Kara Batista Rao said BayREN Business received 259 project applications and completed 189 project installations since June 2023; she said an average business saves about 6,500 kWh per year (roughly $2,000 in annual electric savings) and that the program's average estimated incentive is about $14,000 per project.
Program staff also previewed BRRRR, the BayREN Refrigerant Replacement Program, a pilot focused on replacing high-global-warming-potential refrigerants in food and floral-sector businesses in disadvantaged communities. Staff said they completed on-site assessments at pilot locations and expect a soft launch to the region in the first quarter of 2025, with additional projects to follow.
Ryan Ramos briefed commissioners on multifamily and single-family program updates. The multifamily program had enrolled 188 units to date this year with 164 additional units scheduled; over 95% of the 352 units served in 2024 were identified as affordable housing units. The single-family program will relaunch in a limited capacity in early 2025 with a stronger weatherization focus for underserved communities.
Separately, budget and refuse-rate staff told commissioners that the refuse-rate-setting process is underway and that Recology's rate proposal and the refuse-rate board's package will affect departmental impound-account money. Staff said the refuse-rate board plans presentations to the commission in January and April and will publicly notice proposals under Prop F in May. Department staff warned of timing mismatches between the refuse-rate schedule and the city budget cycle and said that misalignment has previously delayed spending by a year; refuse-rate funding comprises a significant share of the department's budget (staff estimated refuse-rate/impound funds at roughly 40% of departmental budget).
