Palm Desert’s Energy Independence Program Leading the Way in California by kim

Palm Desert is fast becoming a model of electricity savings in California and across the nation.

Assembly Bill 811 allows city governments in California to provide loans to property owners planning home or business improvements that will reduce energy consumption. The bill, termed locally the Energy Independence Act, was written and lobbied for by Palm Desert’s civic leaders.

The Energy Independence Program has led to Palm Desert making significant headway towards reaching its goal of cutting energy consumption by 30 percent—or 215 million kilowatt hours of electric energy—in five years.

One of the ways Palm Desert is realizing this goal is through encouraging residential solar: the county has given $7.5 million in loans (and counting) to help residents improve their energy efficiency. The city will provide loans for as little as $5,000, with an upper limit of $30,000, for various home-improvements that will reduce electricity consumption, including installation of solar panels. Home solar systems last up to 40 years, so the Energy Independence Act allows homeowners to finance systems – using the good credit of the city – with long-term loans to match the long-term benefits of solar.

In the summer months, when temperatures regularly reach over 100 degrees, Palm Desert residents can pay up to $1000 a month for electricity. While high temperatures mean high energy bills, they also mean that Palm Desert is an ideal spot for solar: with 350 days of sunshine each year and an average of 5.5 hours of high-quality solar insulation per day, the city far outperforms the national average.

A fringe benefit of Palm Desert’s eco-friendly ways has been new jobs: the city’s list of solar-panel contractors has swelled to 22—up from three just a year ago.

Palm Desert, under the Energy Independence Program, has taken various measures towards greater energy efficiency measures: The city has built a WalMart that runs on solar energy, waived permit fees on the installation of photovoltaic solar systems in homes and businesses passed a law requiring all new construction to surpass state energy requirements by 10 to 15 percent, employs energy auditors who will go to residents’ homes—for free—and give suggestions on how to save energy and money, and banned drive-through restaurants. It has added zero-emission cars and Segways to its municipal fleet, declared electric golf carts street-legal, gives out free LED holiday lights, and built a LEED-certified visitor center and LEED-certified community center.

Thanks to these measures and more, Palm Desert has been named by the Natural Resources Defense Council as one of nine cities on the leading edge of energy efficiency. Councilman Flanigan, who spearheaded the passage of the Energy Independence Program, said of Palm Desert: “I really salute their leaders for having the creativity and foresight to change state law in this historic way, and now for approving a hugely consumer-friendly program.” Additionally, he stated that classifying the “reduction of a city’s energy consumption and carbon footprint as ‘public good,’ [as Palm Desert has done] is a groundbreaking approach, and opens the door for cities across the state to adopt similar programs.”

For more information on the forward-thinking Energy Independence Program in Palm Desert, visit: http://www.cityofpalmdesert.org/Index.aspx?page=304

Coming soon: 1BOG will be launching a solar city program in Palm Desert in the coming months, so stay tuned!