have joined forces through Silicon Valley Energy Watch to help Santa Clara County save energy and money.
The program offers a variety of services, including no-cost and low-cost energy audits, targeted home upgrades, technical assistance, community outreach, professional training, and more. The Silicon Valley Energy Watch (SVEW) has been managed and staffed by the City of San José’s Environmental Services Department since 2004, and seeks to help residents, public agencies, nonprofits, small businesses, community organizations, and others save energy and money by connecting eligible customers to a broad range of energy resources and incentives. Participants must be PG&E customers with a residence or business in Santa Clara County.
Mission & Goals of the Program
SVEW’s mission is to ensure that all eligible customers are able to take advantage of the broad range of energy efficiency resources available to them. SVEW is able to provide coordination, outreach, and educational resources to help guide community members through the implementation process.
SVEW’s 2015 goal for Santa Clara County in 2015 is to save the county over 5,600,000 million kilowatt hours (kWh), and to reduce electricity demand by 618 kilowatts (kW). A reduction of this scale would result in energy savings equal to that of removing 500 homes from the grid for an entire year.
Since 2010, SVEW has served over 3,250 customers, delivered over $7.3 million in rebates, saved 57 million kWh, and reduced electricity demand by 10,039 kW, resulting in $6.7 million annual savings for Santa Clara County PG&E customers.
More About PG&E and Local Government Partnerships
Investor owned utilities (IOU) in California, including PG&E, are responsible for implementing a range of energy efficiency activities and services in their territories. The California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates the IOUs, sets utility energy savings goals.
To implement these goals, utilities provide a broad range of services, rebates, and other resources; they also partner with third parties and local governments to coordinate programs and provide resources at the local level. The Silicon Valley Energy Watch Partnership provides centralized access to PG&E’s wide array of energy efficiency programs.
The City of San José is dedicated to providing a sustainable environment for its residents and businesses while preserving its beautiful and unique natural habitats. The Environmental Services Department enables San José to respond quickly to new regulations and initiatives while improving customer services such as recycling and garbage collection, wastewater treatment, and the sale of drinking and recycled water.
This program is funded by California utility customers and administered by PG&E under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.