The Energy Coalition

Overview

The Energy Coalition will incorporate HPWHs into an EPIC grant-funded solar + storage pilot in a low-income advanced energy community in Bassett and Avocado Heights, CA, and evaluate scalable electrification solutions for traditionally underserved communities.

Market Barrier

Concerns about how full home electrification will affect the energy bills of low-income households are a pressing concern for policy makers, decarbonization advocates, and program implementers wishing to assist energy burdened households.  Combining electrification with distributed photovoltaic generation could potentially drastically decrease electricity bills, but this idea has not been comprehensively studied.

Proposed Solution

The Energy Coalition will use QSG funds to augment an existing EPIC-grant funded project, the Bassett Avocado Heights Advanced Energy Community (BAAEC). The project will install solar and battery storage systems for up to 50 low-income single-family residences. QSG funding will be used to retrofit up to 20 gas water heaters with electric HPWH.  The QSG funding will also be used to educate families on the benefits of HPWH and build community capacity.

Theory of Change

The Energy Coalition will conduct community-wide inspections before emergency burnout to provide guidance for a planned queue of HPWH retrofits.  The HPWH will be operated as part of a virtual power plant that offers value to the customer, such as by avoiding charges during peak periods, or even being scheduled to support demand response and wholesale economic dispatch participation.

Housing Type:

Single-family low-income

Technology:

HPWH (in combination with solar and storage)

Location:

Bassett and Avocado Heights, CA