CPUC Program Helps Homeowners Impacted by Wildfire Rebuild All-Electric Homes and Reduces Costs for Adoption of Electric Heat Pump Space and Water Heaters
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in ongoing decarbonization actions to safeguard the environment, adopted several measures to advance building decarbonization. Today’s Decision creates a new fund to help victims of wildfires and other disasters rebuild all-electric homes, adopts guidelines to make it easier for customers to use incentives from various programs, and directs large energy utilities to take steps to ensure that customers are not penalized with higher bills for switching from natural gas to highly efficient electric appliances.
The new Wildfire and Natural Disaster Resiliency Rebuild (WNDRR) Program is a 10-year, $50 million program. It will provide incentives for customers who lose their homes to natural disasters to rebuild all-electric in alignment with the state’s climate and energy goals. Participants from disadvantaged communities will receive higher incentives. The program is open to eligible customers in all of the CPUC-regulated energy utility service territories.
The Decision also adopts a set of guiding principles to ensure that customers can more easily access and combine incentives from the CPUC’s many building decarbonization programs, which have a combined budget of more than $440 million. The principles focus on simplifying customer participation and ensuring access for low-income customers. The CPUC also directed California’s three large electric utilities to revisit their rates, if needed, to ensure that customers are not penalized for switching from natural gas water heaters to highly efficient electric heat pump water heaters.
Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen, the Commissioner assigned to the building decarbonization initiatives noted, “Through these measures, we are tackling some of the most significant barriers to the adoption of building decarbonization technologies at scale, and making it easier for low-income customers to benefit from our incentive programs.”
Commissioner Darcie L. Houck added, “At the recent 2021 World Climate Summit, the gravity of Earth’s climate crisis was again laid bare. This Decision is timely as it helps and encourages Californians to utilize building decarbonization programs, makes participation in programs easier, and ultimately reduces methane emissions.”
The proposal voted on is available at https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M420/K354/420354145.PDF.
Documents related to the proceeding are available at https://apps.cpuc.ca.gov/apex/f?p=401:56:0::NO:RP,57,RIR:P5_PROCEEDING_SELECT:R1901011.
The CPUC regulates services and utilities, safeguards the environment, and assures Californians’ access to safe and reliable utility infrastructure and services. For more information on the CPUC, please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov.
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