Rural Voices Part 4 | County of SLO
Established in 1850 as one of California’s original 27 counties, the County of San Luis Obispo (The County) covers 3,300 square miles with 100 miles of coastline. Within the county, there are seven cities, and several special districts that have traditionally been unable to access energy efficiency programming available to larger more populated areas.
Over the past decade, the County has provided energy efficiency programing under various implementation and administrative efforts. Early on, the County of San Luis Obispo Energy Watch Program implemented five distinct programs focusing on climate services and energy retrofits for aging building stock and infrastructure within the county, special districts, and cities as well as small to medium business. The County managed these programs until recently when the investor-owned utilities began the process of outsourcing public sector partnerships across the state. The County also implemented, in partnership with the County of Santa Barbara, the Residential emPower Program that focused on single family retrofits for customers. The successes of the emPower program carried forward in new endeavors under the Tri-County Regional Energy Network.
The County now delivers a different program as part of the Tri-County Regional Network (3C-REN). In collaboration with the counties of Santa Barbara and Ventura, the County of San Luis Obispo delivers three distinct and tailored programs to meet the needs of our rural building professionals and residents. The three programs include Codes and Standards, Workforce Education and Training, and Residential Direct Install. For public and private building professionals, 3C-REN offers free training, regional forums, and energy code support. For households, 3C-REN delivers direct installation of free and low-cost energy efficiency and electrification measures. However, the County lacks access beyond just the residential sector.
The County is rural, and gaps and are growing beyond current energy programming. For example, Agriculture is a robust industry in our region; small to medium businesses are a mainstay of the local economy and were hit hard during the pandemic; and many of the schools, jurisdictions, and special districts within the county still in need assistance with energy management and retrofits. The County’s rural and small nature makes it an undesirable and cost ineffective location for energy service providers and outside program administrators to deliver. As gaps grow the County will not have a chance at an equitable transition to a clean energy future.
The Rural Regional Energy Network (Rural REN) will help to begin bridging gaps alongside the programs available under 3C-REN. Local understanding of the issues rural communities face is an important factor for the development of a Regional Energy Network and associated programs. The County is excited to be a part of this effort with the Rural Hard to Reach Working Group in bringing more access and savings to our community while meeting the State’s climate, energy, and sustainability goals in a valuable and meaningful way.
Jordan Garbayo
County of SLO
Tri County Regional Energy Network