WRCOG pushes expanded IREN business plan to CPUC, seeks roughly $180 million to boost incentives and workforce

The Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG) Executive Committee on Feb. 2 received a briefing on the Inland Regional Energy Network (IREN) and a proposed business plan that would seek significantly larger California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) funding to expand incentives, workforce training and technical assistance.

Casey Daley, WRCOG director of energy and environmental programs, told the committee the CPUC application is due March 16 and that the business plan seeks funding for 2028–2031 (with an eight‑year forecast to 2035). "We're ready to go," Daley said as he reviewed the timeline and aims of the proposed plan.

Why it matters: WRCOG serves as the administrative lead for IREN in the Inland Empire and uses CPUC funds to help public agencies identify and implement energy upgrades. A larger funding award would increase available incentive pools and staffing to help cities, counties and special districts move projects forward.

What staff presented: Corita Camacho, senior analyst supporting IREN, described IREN's public‑sector pathway: collecting agency energy data, producing an energy roadmap, conducting on‑site audits, preparing initial measures lists and—when agencies secure upfront funding—issuing "cash for kilowatts" incentive reimbursements after construction. "IREN's cash for kilowatt incentive functions as a reimbursement," Camacho said.

IRS? (clarity note): IREN provides assessments and identifies external funding pathways for clean‑energy projects; Camacho emphasized that IREN cannot provide direct incentives for some clean‑energy hardware but can help agencies secure outside funding.

Key metrics and examples: Camacho said IREN has delivered preliminary road maps to 45 agencies (19 within the WRCOG subregion), completed audits at 101 facilities across 37 agencies (28 facilities at 10 WRCOG agencies), and prepared dozens of initial measures lists. Twenty‑one agencies have submitted letters of intent (seven in the WRCOG region); IREN is supporting CPUC applications for seven agencies (five local to WRCOG). She highlighted a Colton Joint Unified School District LED retrofit that resulted in an initial incentive check of about $88,000 and a final incentive expected to exceed $100,000.

Budget and program changes: Daley said IREN's current total funding is about $65.5 million and that the business plan would propose a budget closer to $180 million. He said the existing $10 million cash‑for‑kilowatts pool would likely be doubled toward $20 million to accelerate project uptake. The plan also emphasizes workforce expansion—IREN currently funds more than 30 fellows and targets roughly 27 fellows per year so agencies could host fellows on a rotating basis.

Workforce and partnerships: Daley said IREN has partnered with San Bernardino County and Riverside County workforce development departments and previously made ~$1.5 million investments in each county to establish clean‑energy career pipelines. He said the business plan would increase recurring workforce support and described a proposal to provide up to $1 million per county per year in ongoing support as presented.

Regulatory context and compliance support: Daley flagged Assembly Bill 39 (the Local Electrification Planning Act), which will require jurisdictions with populations above 75,000 to adopt a general‑plan‑level electrification or decarbonization plan between Dec. 2027 and no later than 2031. He said WRCOG aims to provide resources and technical assistance to help member agencies meet that requirement.

Residential programs and partnerships: Daley reiterated that IREN will not directly operate residential programs but is partnering on a Southern California coalition awarded funding under the California Energy Commission's Equitable Building Decarbonization (EBD) program; the coalition's funding is intended to support decarbonization measures in disadvantaged and low‑income communities.

Board reaction and next steps: Committee members praised the outreach and raised questions about pacing of spending, program eligibility for cities served by community choice aggregators (CCAs), and staff capacity to accelerate participation. Daley and staff encouraged cities to engage city managers and staff, host IREN fellows, complete technical assistance interest forms and invite IREN staff to present at council meetings. The IREN Executive Committee previously authorized business‑plan development and the staff expects to submit the plan in March.

Budgetary and procedural notes: Much of the proposed increase is for incentives, workforce programs and staffing to administer more contracts and projects. Several members noted that the funds are collected from ratepayers and stressed the importance of returning benefits to local communities.

What happens next: Staff will finalize the business plan for CPUC submission by the March 16 deadline, continue outreach to city staff and councils, circulate a host application for IREN fellows and make the technical assistance interest form available online.

Sources: Presentation and Q&A with WRCOG staff (Casey Daley, Corita Camacho); committee discussion at the WRCOG Executive Committee meeting.