Month: February 2014

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Financing for Energy Projects

/ Tom Barrett / Leave a comment

Want to install a new, energy-efficient heating and air conditioning system? Energy-efficient lighting? Solar water heating or electric systems? Other energy efficiency measures? Here is a new way to finance those projects without having to put any money out up front.

PACE financing is available in Butte County to fund energy efficiency, renewable energy projects, or water efficiency projects. The loan is paid back as a voluntary property tax assessment on your property and is not a “bank” loan. PACE loans can be paid back in 5 to 20 years as it is tied to your property tax bill. PACE eliminated the need to pay out of pocket for your energy improvements.

PACE loans are available for owners of property in the unincorporated area of Butte County, the City of Chico, the City of Oroville, or the Town of Paradise. This financing package is available only for commercial, retail, agricultural and industrial property owners in Butte County.

PACE offers 100% up-front financing for solar, energy efficiency and water conservation improvements and may include:

  • HVAC Systems
  • Solar Photovoltaic
  • Solar Thermal
  • Roofing
  • Lighting
  • Windows
  • Exterior Doors
  • Plumbing
  • Irrigation
  • Process Equipment
  • Control Systems

PACE gives property owners unparalleled flexibility and benefits:

  • 100% up-front financing
  • Long terms (up to 20 years)
  • No encumbrance of corporate credit
  • Transferability of lien upon disposition
  • Repayment via property tax bill
  • Potential off balance sheet treatment

An energy audit or ‘test in, test out’ procedures to ensure optimum operation is not required; however, it is highly recommended. You can also use PG&E rebates and other incentive programs such as RHA’s Energy Fitness Program in addition to PACE funding.

For more information:

Visit the Butte County website:

http://buttebusinessresources.com/property-assessed-clean-energy-pace

Butte CountyThe Butte County PACE program is operated by FIGTREE.  Visit the FIGTREE website to begin your application or call 877.577.7373.

Water Conservation Measures – Toilets

/ Tom Barrett / Leave a comment

High Efficiency Toilets (HETs)

It is time for toilet talk. In a previous post I provided CalWater’s list of rebates for water conserving devices. Hopefully you all sign up for the water conservation kit and they are sending it to you in four to six weeks (really it takes that long?). There were two different rebates for high efficiency toilets. This rebate requires you to install the toilet, fill out a form, send it in with the receipt, and wait six to eight weeks for your check.

CalWater lists two different toilet rebates (the form is available on-line www.calwater.com) one for $50 and the other for $100.  The $50 dollar rebate is for a non-premium, high-efficiency toilet and the $100 one is for a premium HET (nothing is too good for your poo). High efficiency toilets (HET) are those that use 1.28 gpf or less.

I have two toilets in my house. One is an original 50-year old toilet that was installed when my house it was built in 1955.  Toilets are date stamped and my tank says it was manufactured in August 1950.  It stores 5 – 6 gallons of water in the tank and flushes about 5 gallons per flush (gpf). That is 3,650 gallons a year if I flushed two times a day! I adjusted the float valve years ago so that it only flushed 4 gallons. My second toilet is a newer, low flow, 1.6 gpf toilet installed six years ago. Since I live alone only the newer toilet is used on a regular basis, so the older one hasn’t been a retrofit priority for me. With rebates available and drought looming I thought it might be time to flush my old one no more.

So I checked prices for new low-flow toilets. I was potty shocked. The premium HETs ranged in price from $600 – $1,200 and I’m sure there are more expensive ones, but heck you can get a $100 rebate (if there is rebate money left)! Since none of these premium units were self wiping I decided to look at the “non-premium” ones. These ranged in price from $130 to $600, a little more in my price range and they were the same size as the premium ones.

I’ll be doing some plumbing this weekend it looks like. Just in time too. I’m replacing my old fireplace insert with a new EPA-certified fireplace insert utilizing a $1,000 rebate from the Butte County Air Quality Management District (more on that in a later post – they are out of money right now) and new building codes require that whenever you get a building permit, yes even for installing a fireplace insert, you have to bring your pre-1994 toilets up to code.

Remember if you are planning on remodeling or doing anything that requires a building permit plan on upgrading your pre-1994 toilet with a new 1.28 gpf HET.

Toilet Water Saving Measures

If you don’t have $200 or more to put into a HET there are other options for saving water with your water closet:

  1. If it is brown, flush it down. If it is yellow, let it mellow.
  2. Adjust the float valve so that it shuts off before it fills all the way.
  3. Place food dye (toilet test kit) in the tank and see if any of the dye ends up in the bowl. If it does the flapper valve is leaking or the float valve is not shutting off. Repair it.
  4. Place a water bottle in the tank. Use liter or gallon plastic bottles filled with water into the tank to reduce the amount of water in each flush.
Reduce amount of water in the tank with a filled water bottle.

Reduce amount of water in the tank with a filled water bottle.

 

Water Conservation Devices and Rebates Available from Cal Water

/ Tom Barrett / Leave a comment

Cal Water will provide you with a FREE water conservation kit if you apply on-line or go to their office next to CostCo. They also have rebates for toilets, washing machines, and lawn sprinkler controllers for single-family customers and irrigation control and sprinkler heads for commercial customers. Take advantage of these as the kits and rebates are limited and on a first-come first-serve basis.

If you need help installing these devices call friends or trade for services.

Cal Water Conservation Kits

Cal Water is providing water conservation kits for single-family residential customers. These kits are available at no charge to help make conserving water that much easier.

Each kit includes:

  • Two high-efficiency showerheads (use 2 gallons per minute [gpm])
  • One hose nozzle
  • Two bathroom faucet aerators (use 1.0 gpm)
  • Toilet leak tablets
  • One kitchen faucet aerator (uses 1.5 gpm)

These fixtures are available to current Cal Water single-family residential customers while supplies last, and will be mailed to the service address on record. There is a limit of one kit per service address per three-year period.

https://www.calwater.com/conservation-kits/

Cal Water Residential Water Conservation Rebates for Chico and Oroville

High-efficiency toilet rebate (Non-Premium Models)

Amount: Up to $50

Eligible Devices: Non-Premium Models from this list

WaterSense labeled toilets are independently certified to meet rigorous criteria for both performance and efficiency. WaterSense labeled toilets must use 1.28 gallons per flush or less and meet a minimum MaP threshold of 350 grams of waste removed from the toilet fixture in a single flush.

High-efficiency toilet rebate (MaP Premium Models)

Amount: Up to $100

Eligible Devices: Premium MaP Models from this list

In addition to meeting the rigorous performance standards of WaterSense labeled toilets, MaP premium toilets must use 1.06 gallons per flush or less and meet a minimum MaP threshold of 600 grams of waste removed from the toilet fixture in a single flush.

High-efficiency clothes washer rebate

Amount: $150

Eligible Devices: Devices from this list

High-efficiency clothes washers use 35-50% less water and approximately 50% less energy than traditional washers. See the rebate application for additional restrictions and qualifications.

Smart Irrigation Controller rebate

Amount: Up to $125

Eligible Devices: Devices from this list

Smart Irrigation controllers automatically adjust their watering schedule in response to changing weather conditions. See the rebate application for restrictions and qualifications.

Commercial Water Conservation Devices Rebates – Chico and Oroville

Smart Irrigation Controller rebate

Amount: Up to $25 per station

Eligible Devices: All devices from this list

Smart Irrigation controllers automatically adjust their watering schedule in response to changing weather conditions. See the rebate application for restrictions and qualifications.

Free Sprinkler Nozzles

To help you save water, Cal Water is partnering with FreeSprinklerNozzles.com to make water-saving Toro Precision Series Spray Nozzles available at no charge to our customers. Visit www.freesprinklernozzles.com to receive a voucher for free spray nozzles. For more information, visit the Free Sprinkler Nozzles page.

Rotating Nozzle rebate

Amount: Up to $5 per nozzle

Eligible Devices: Devices from this list

Rotating nozzles save water by applying water more slowly and uniformly, minimizing run-off. See the rebate application for additional restrictions and qualifications.

Spray Body with Integrated Pressure Regulation and Check Valve rebate

Amount: Up to $10 per body (material)
Up to $8 per body (installation, if installed by C-27 contractor

Eligible Devices: Devices from this list

Spray bodies with integrated pressure regulation and check valves save water by providing optimal pressure and minimizing loss of water through low-head drainage. See the rebate application for additional restrictions and qualifications.

Chico’s Not So Livable Wages

/ Tom Barrett / Leave a comment

There has been a lot of discussion lately about raising the minimum wage to a livable wage. Wages paid to American workers have not kept up even with the low levels of inflation. The proposal to raise the Federal minimum wage to $10.10/hour is a start but is still well below a livable wage in most places including Chico and Butte County. If minimum wages kept up with inflation over the past 30 years they would be around $21/hour in 2014, not $10.10.

According to the California Budget Project a “livable wage” in Butte County for one person in 2013 was $12.80/hour, higher than the current minimum wage is $8.00/hour and the averaged per capita income hourly wage of $11.33. While this increase may seem significant it is still 66% of the median wage and would classify a person as “low-income”. A “low-income”, 1-person household in Butte County earns less than $30,650 a year. That’s $14.74/hour or less and a livable wage would still be below this level!

The California Budget Project’s (CPB, http://www.cpb.org) December, 2013 report, “Making Ends Meet: How Much Does It Cost to Support a Family in California?” analyzed the cost to live in California and each of its counties.  The CBP analyzed the following basic living needs: housing and utilities, child care, transportation, food, health care, miscellaneous expenses (including telephone service, housekeeping supplies, and other basic costs), and taxes.

Livable wage in Chico/Butte County:

  • A single adult needs an annual income of $26,615, or $12.80/hour.
  • A single-parent family with two children needs an annual income of $61,605, or $29.62/hour.
  • A two-parent family with one parent working and two children needs an annual income of $53,138, or $25.57/hour.
  • A family with two working parents and two children needs an annual income of $69,480, or $16.70/hour for each working parent.

How much do people in Chico make? According the latest Census information, American Community Survey (ACS) reports that in Chico:

  • The median household income is $42,896/year, or $20.62/hour, 70% of the State’s median of $61,400.
  • The median family income is $56,301/year, or $27.07/hour.
  • The per capita income is $23,573, or $11.33/hour, 80% of the State’s per capita of $29,551.

The US Census reports that 23% of the population in Chico is below poverty level.