Organic Energy

Although the growth of solar power has been substantial in California in recent years, the percentage of homes that have solar panels on their rooftops is still small less than 2 percent. Likewise, many property owners throughout the state have yet to install energy-efficient upgrades to their homes. The reason often comes down to cost: It's still expensive to adopt green-energy practices, even though prices have come down in the past decade. And that's especially true for residents of Oakland, Berkeley, and East Bay cities who live in smaller homes and don't use a lot of electricity.

In fact, solar power and energy-efficient upgrades are still cost-prohibitive for many such homeowners that is, it costs more to put solar panels on your home or make energy-efficient upgrades than what you'll save on your monthly PG&E bill. Part of the problem is that the state does not provide enough green-energy incentives, particularly for low-energy users. For example, California strictly limits a homeowner's ability to sell excess solar energy back to utilities.

Until such policies change, some environmentalists contend that eco-conscious consumers may have to start viewing energy efficiency much like they do organic and sustainably grown food: It's expensive, but good for the earth. Dan Forman of the Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter said he knows some area residents who have installed solar rooftops, knowing full well that they will never recoup their costs. One said, "'I know that I'm not making money on this I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do,'" Forman said.

But that's not to say you shouldn't take advantage of existing green-energy incentives. For example, Energy Upgrade California, a state program, gives homeowners between $1,000 and $4,500 for permanent home upgrades i.e., things you can't take with you when you move that improve energy efficiency. Ratepayers fund the program via a tax on their energy bill.

Here's how it works: Homeowners choose from a list of pre-approved, specially trained contractors available at BayAreaEnergyUpgrade.org. (They can also see all the rebate programs they qualify for at EnergyUpgradeCA.org, and then choose a contractor based on which ones they specialize in.) There are two main programs Home Upgrade and Advanced Home Upgrade. The former is based on a point system: Each upgrade is given a certain number of points and the total rebate amount is based on how many points you accumulate. The latter option offers a rebate based on the total energy consumption of your home after the various upgrades have been completed. It requires an energy assessment test.

Advanced Home Energy, which is based in Richmond, is one of the largest Bay Area contractors to participate in Energy Upgrade California, according to marketing manager Marisa Lee. Lee recommends the Advanced Home Upgrade over the Home Upgrade plan because it's more flexible and offers better savings. (For example, window upgrades aren't available through the Home Upgrade plan.) It begins with an audit of the "health and safety" and "comfort and energy efficiency" of your home, said Lee. "Health and safety" means checking for asbestos and testing gas appliances, for example, while "comfort and energy efficiency" evaluates things such as how well your insulation is working and how efficient your furnace is. That report is then submitted to your local utility company for most East Bay residents, that means PG&E.

After going over possible upgrades and the cost of those fixes with the contractor, the homeowner then decides on a plan of action. After the work is completed, the contractor performs another energy audit of the home and submits it to PG&E, which would then send a check to the customer. In addition to the $1,000 to $4,500 rebate for the upgrades, PG&E also offers up to $300 for the audit, which can cost between $100 and $450, depending on the size of the home, said Lee, who added it's possible that the entire audit will be covered.

The average rebate is $3,000, she said, and the average cost of the upgrades (before the rebate) is between $10,000 and $15,000. "Most of our customers get 25 percent back in rebates," Lee said. (Rebates for the Home Upgrade plan are slightly lower.)

Still, even with the rebates, many residents won't recover the costs of the actual upgrades. For example, if your monthly PG&E bill is $100, and you pay $10,000 (with a $4,500 rebate) for upgrades that reduce your bill to $75, it would still take 220 months or about 18 years for your investment to pay for itself. And that's a best-case scenario.

An exception is for those who use a lot of energy. Lee said one customer reported saving 70 percent on his energy costs after making upgrades to his very large home but his bill started out at $700 per month and was reduced to $100. "The average energy savings varies significantly it's based on home size and location and age of the home," said Monica Tell, spokesperson for PG&E. But there are other benefits to participation, she added, including increasing comfort and improving indoor air quality.

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Organic Energy