Students in the Pittsburg Unified School District will see a range of energy efficiency improvements through funds from the California Clean Energy Jobs Act (Proposition 39) K-12 Program.

The district received $2.6 million from the California Energy Commission’s Proposition 39 funds for projects such as interior and exterior lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. The project are at nine district sites. The funds will also support an energy supervisor position. All projects are scheduled to be completed by 2020.

The Energy Commission directed more than $1.7 billion over five years from Proposition 39 to schools to plan and install energy efficiency upgrades and clean energy generation measures. Proposition 39 is a voter-approved initiative that adjusted the corporate income tax code and allocated revenues to school districts for energy improvements to facilities.

Pittsburg district officials used Proposition 39 funds to replace interior lighting at three gymnasiums at Pittsburg Senior High School. Head Custodian Martin Nunez said he often received complaints about the dim gym lights.

“During basketball games, even the referees would ask me to brighten the lights, but I couldn’t because that was as far as they could go,” Nunez said. “The new lighting is really great because I don’t get those complaints anymore.”

The district’s Proposition 39 projects are estimated to save $78,527 in energy costs annually, according to the Energy Commission.

Alan Glass, the district’s energy supervisor, said Proposition 39 has supported his passion for sustainability and energy conservation.

“The more I’m involved in what I do, the more excited I’ve gotten about any opportunity to improve the district,” Glass said.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently recognized the district for its energy efficiency efforts. The district plans to build an outdoor learning center to teach students about the district’s solar panels, electric buses, and wind turbines.

Ten clean energy startups received a boost from the California Energy Commission in June when it awarded more than $22 million to help them advance their projects to the pilot production stage.

The projects were funded through the Energy Commission’s Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program, which invests about $130 million annually for innovations and technologies that support the state’s goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2045.

“The Energy Commission’s EPIC research program invests in a balanced portfolio of projects aligned to critical advancements in energy efficiency, energy generation, and energy systems and makes strides across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors,” said Energy Commission Vice Chair Janea A. Scott. “Research projects like those funded through EPIC support entrepreneurs, launch new businesses and bring new technologies to market—stimulating market activity and affecting change through technology push and market pull.”

The projects, ranging from improved utility-scale battery storage technologies to innovative and efficient lighting systems, promote a cleaner grid through energy conservation and renewable energy production and storage.

Recipients were:
• San Mateo-based Caban Systems received $1.9 million to produce its modular battery platform. hese battery platforms are fire resistant and can be accessed remotely, allowing critical infrastructure such as telecommunications to continue working even after a natural disaster.
• Emeryville-based Cuberg received $1.6 million to create safer batteries for zero-emissions vehicles. The company’s electrolytes create batteries with higher energy densities and decreased risk of thermal runaway conditions.
• San Diego-based General Engineering and Research received $1.1 million to lower the cost and increase the efficiency of magnetic refrigeration. Unlike traditional refrigeration technologies, magnetic refrigeration does not use vapor compression to produce a cooling effect.
• Burlingame-based Glint Photonics received $2 million to scale up production of energy-efficient adjustable lighting products. Its lights allow a lamp’s beam to be adjusted without moving the lamp itself.
• San Mateo-based Halo Industries received $4 million to further develop a process using lasers to cut wafers used in solar panels. The process creates higher-quality wafers at half the cost of traditional ones.
• Hayward-based Primus Power received $4 million to improve production of its long-duration energy storage batteries. Each battery lasts more than 20 years with no degradation and allows for utility-scale electricity storage.
• Oakland-based Sepion Technologies received more than $2.6 million to increase pilot production of special battery membranes that make batteries safer and last longer.
• San Diego-based South 8 Technologies received $1 million to increase production of its liquefied gas electrolyte technology for lithium batteries, which increases battery safety and energy density.
• Berkeley-based Spark Thermionics received $1.3 million to scale-up production of its heat-to-electricity technology. When combined with concentrated solar energy plants, Spark’s thermionic energy converters would increase plant efficiency and lower the cost of electricity.
• San Francisco-based Treau received $2.8 million to further develop a high-efficiency window-mounted air conditioning and heating unit that uses only low global warming potential refrigerants.

Additional details are in the Energy Commission’s June 12 business meeting agenda.

Photo courtesy of Primus Power.

The path to California’s climate goals hinges on improving energy performance in buildings. For the state’s lowest income residents, this path can come with barriers.

During a June webinar, California Energy Commissioner Andrew McAllister joined panelists with the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment (CLEE) to discuss the center’s recent “Low Income, High Efficiency” study that looked at policies to expand low-income multifamily energy savings retrofits.

McAllister and other study contributors raised the possibilities and challenges of extending efficiency measures to low-income residents.

He said while 35 to 45 percent of Californians are low-income, housing and energy policy for that population remains underdeveloped. That is why there is a need to focus on equity, he said.

“This issue is vital,” he said.

McAllister hopes that new data, ideas, and recommendations from reports like CLEE’s or the Senate Bill 350 Low-Income Barriers Study can lead to advances that promote clean energy access for all. The study, which the Energy Commission submitted to the Legislature, examined barriers and provided recommendations on how to help low-income residents and disadvantaged communities participate in the state's transition to a low-carbon energy future.

“We are not going to achieve our climate goals without involving every Californian,” McAllister said, adding that focusing on energy equity, “is the right thing to do. And, collectively, we won’t be successful unless everyone shares the benefits of clean energy.”

McAllister said a commitment to decarbonization for all generates an abundance of co-benefits. This includes creating 400,000 jobs in California’s energy sector and the health benefits of fewer pollutants in local communities.

The CLEE study identified a lack of capital and split incentives as the primary barriers in implementing energy policies that include low-income residents. The crux of the issue is in navigating the different interests of landlords and tenants, and the limited resources of tenants.

The study highlighted three findings for potential solutions: create an one-stop shop administration system to streamline access to programs, launch more programs to test emerging policies and leverage new technologies, and develop a statewide database that corresponds with the public’s energy and timeline needs.

The California Energy Commission and the Bishop Paiute Tribe are working on renewable energy efforts.

The two co-sponsored the Sustaining Tribal Resources Conference at the Bishop Indian Education Center, which featured speakers from state agencies and various tribes. The conference, which was held July 9 to 11, initiated and expanded dialogue concerning past and current state energy-related and climate change projects, plans, and assessments in relation to tribal cultural and environmental issues.

During the conference opening, Bishop Paiute Tribe Chair Allen Summers Sr. expressed the hope that “we can learn from this discussion and grow stronger.”

Topics discussed during the conference included on/off reservation environmental assessment, cultural landscapes, conservation easements, traditional ecological knowledge, and climate change resiliency.

“What we do here in California matters, we create models for engaging with Native American tribes,” said Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild. “We have the opportunity to show how a tribal-state relationship can be healthy and productive.”

The invite-only conference kicked off with tribal-led field trips for conference participants to Owens Lake, a walking tour on tribal land to explore the tribe’s efforts to achieve sustainable food sovereignty, water monitoring, and Paiute culture, and a tour of a historic battle site monument.

“This conference is years in the making and reflects the Energy Commission’s desire for dialogue, partnerships and real improvements in tribal relations,” said Energy Commissioner Karen Douglas. “The people in this room have helped changed the way the state works with tribes.”

Hochshild, Douglas, and Summers were among the featured speakers during the conference. Others included Kathy Bancroft, the tribal historical preservation officer for the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, and Christina Snider, tribal advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom.

During Hochschild’s remarks, he stated that “when we take on the biggest challenges, climate change being one, this is where we tap into the best of the human spirit.”

The conference stemmed from discussions after the Energy Commission sponsored the California Tribal Energy Summit. The November 2018 summit was organized to start or advance dialogue between California Native American tribes and the state’s energy agencies on advancing climate change and energy goals.

Elementary schools in Merced have benefitted from energy efficiency upgrades with funds from the California Energy Commission.

During the 2017-2018 school year, the Merced City School District used the money to replace lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and install solar panels.

The Energy Commission directed more than $1.7 billion over five years from the California Clean Energy Jobs Act (Proposition 39) K-12 Program to schools to plan and install energy efficiency upgrades and clean energy generation measures. Proposition 39 is a voter-approved initiative that adjusted the corporate income tax code and allocated revenues to school districts for energy improvements to facilities.

New LED lighting and HVAC systems have improved the air quality, student learning experience, and safety at Alicia Reyes, John Muir, Leontine Gracey, and Luther Burbank elementary schools. Other benefits from the brighter outdoor LED lighting have been less vandalism, break-ins, and after school loitering, said Kenneth Testa, facilities manager for the Merced district.

“The new air conditioners are quieter and make classrooms less distracting,” Testa said. “By replacing the outdoor lighting in our campuses with LED, along with all the other energy efficient improvements, our schools are figuratively and literally smarter, brighter, cleaner, and safer.”

The district also used Proposition 39 funds to install additional photovoltaic panels at Leontine Gracey and Luther Burbank elementary schools through a power purchase agreement.

“The kids are overall very happy about the solar panels,” Testa said. “They hang out around and under the shade ask teachers about it a lot, especially when they hear it humming.”

The district received $2.5 million in Proposition 39 funds. The district’s energy efficiency projects are estimated to save $80,234 in energy costs annually, according to the Energy Commission.

“Solar is saving us precious operational funds to use on updating and replacing outdated equipment,” Testa said. “We placed solar arrays in a number of schools in advantageous places like over play yards where kids benefit from additional shade.”

Testa said other schools are eager to implement similar projects after seeing the benefits from the completed projects.

Photo courtesy of the Merced City School District.