A new, $50 million California program is offering property owners between $5,000 and $15,000 to install all-electric appliances into homes being rebuilt following natural disasters.
The ratepayer funded Rebuilding Incentives for Sustainable Electric Homes program is accepting applications from homeowners and builders overseeing home plans approved after Nov. 4, 2021, and replacing homes lost or damaged by disasters dating back to 2017.
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The incentive applies to applicants who are customers with any of the six utility companies across the state, such as Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric Company and Bear Valley Electric Service. The program requires applicants rebuild their homes using electric appliances, such as induction range or cooktops with electric ovens; electric clothes dryer, water heaters and heating systems.
The benefit applies to a range of home types including traditional single family homes, multifamily units, modular homes, additional dwelling units and manufactured housing.
Program coordinators said the money would be distributed by check within two to three months following construction.
RISE comes eight years after Senate Bill 1477 required the state’s gas-producing companies to allocate $200 million of cap and trade revenue between 2019 and 2023 to two low-emission initiatives, the Building Initiative for Low-Emissions Development Program and TECH Clean California, which later established the RISE program.
UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment highlighted the cost-effective, fast and sustainable benefits of rebuilding using electric energy. The Building Decarbonization Coalition, a national organization, noted it could save Southern Californians an average of $3,000 to $10,000 from what mixed-fuel homes pay for utilities.
To apply and for more information, go to https://risehomesca.com/.
Editor’s note: The RISE Home program is rate-payer funded. An earlier version of this story indicated it was paid for by utility companies.
