ABAG’s Local Government Energy Partnership Program

In January 2004, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) awarded ABAG $2.5 million to administer an informational energy efficiency program called the Local Government Energy Partnership Program (LGEP). The program, which is funded by Public Goods Charges collected from California utility rate payers, targets local governments in the ABAG and Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) membership areas, with the exception of Marin County. LGEP will assist local governments to achieve energy and cost savings by improving energy efficiency in public facilities, help local governments create community-wide energy savings by developing energy policies and programs, and provide workshops and information on energy efficiency topics relevant to local governments. Cities with populations under 250,000, counties, and special districts are eligible to apply for program services.

Among the energy services to be provided free of charge to eligible, enrolled local governments, are the following:

Prioritizing public facilities savings opportunities. The program will provide local governments with an overview of their facility energy consumption and costs. This will help local governments prioritize facilities with the highest potential for energy savings.

Facilitating energy audits, design assistance, and related support. LGEP staff will match the needs of each local government with existing utility and state energy programs. LGEP will also facilitate enrollees’ participation in existing programs to ensure that existing resources are used to achieve potential energy savings in their facilities.

Providing sustained technical support. The program will provide sustained technical support to help ensure that energy projects are fully implemented. Services may include providing supplementary energy audits, applying for statewide incentives, reviewing designs for energy efficiency improvements, developing equipment specifications, assisting with contractor procurement, and arranging project financing.

Developing energy policies. The program will work with local governments to identify community-wide energy needs and opportunities that can be addressed through government-sponsored policies and programs, including energy retrofit ordinances, general plan guidelines, green building goals, and other policy instruments.

Educating the community. Program staff will also help local governments identify and establish outreach methods unique to local governments, that can be used to promote local and statewide energy programs, initiatives, and messages.

ABAG will administer the program in partnership with AMBAG, the Local Government Commission (LGC), Energy Solutions (Oakland), Brown, Vence & Associates (San Francisco), and John Deakin Associates (San Francisco). The program will be rolled out over the next few months and will run through December 31, 2005. The program website is under development at http://www.abag.ca.gov/lgep/. For more information, please contact Gerald Lahr at ABAG, at 510-464-7908 or email jerryl@abag.ca.gov.

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