Customer relief, workforce training & community resilience
Santa Clara County, Calif. – Building upon its April 2020 decision to allocate $10 million to COVID relief efforts, on May 13 the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Board of Directors approved new programs for customer relief, workforce training and community resiliency. The goal of these programs is to provide immediate relief to SVCE customers and local communities impacted by the pandemic and anticipated power shutoffs in the coming years, while continuing to support a longer-term goal of transitioning to clean energy.
A customer relief program will distribute $3.5 million directly to qualifying customers. The program will provide immediate relief to residential CARE and FERA customers in the form of a $100 bill credit that will be automatically applied. In light of COVID, access to CARE, a monthly electricity discount of 20% or more, and FERA, a monthly electricity discount of 18% for homes of three or more people, has been expanded. SVCE encourages customers who have been affected by the pandemic to learn more about CARE and FERA discounts on the PG&E website.
SVCE also aims to support the local community by providing a $250 bill credit to qualifying small business customers. Qualifying businesses will receive information on how to apply for the credit in a letter sent via mail from SVCE.
“We want to ensure that all customers are supported during these times, especially those who have been financially affected by the pandemic,” said Howard Miller, SVCE Board Chair and City of Saratoga Mayor. “Our goal for these innovative programs is to help local communities as they begin to recover from the impacts of COVID.”
In addition, SVCE has dedicated $1.5 million for the development and delivery of an online contractor training program. The program aims to provide the tools and resources needed to expand knowledge and awareness related to all-electric technology for the contractor community. Local contractors, apprentices, and journeymen will be eligible to receive a $500 financial relief stipend upon completion of the training program.
A third program, anticipating involuntary power supply shutoffs, will support local clean energy job creation, community resilience, and local air quality improvements by allocating $5 million to support regional energy resilience planning and deployment.
“The towns and cities that make up SVCE have shown great strength and resilience during this pandemic, we aim to assist in a way that will benefit the entire community,” said SVCE CEO Girish Balachandran. “Supporting our communities in resilience implementation will immediately create local jobs while having the long-term benefits of energy resilience and public health.”
For more information on SVCE COVID relief programs please visit SVCleanEnergy.org/covid-19.
###
About Silicon Valley Clean Energy
Silicon Valley Clean Energy is a not-for-profit community-owned agency serving the majority of Santa Clara County communities, acquiring clean, carbon-free electricity on behalf of more than 270,000 residential and commercial customers. As a public agency, net revenues are returned to the community to keep rates competitive and promote clean energy programs. Member jurisdictions include Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Saratoga, Sunnyvale and unincorporated Santa Clara County. SVCE is guided by a Board of Directors, which is comprised of a representative from the governing body of each member community. For more information, please visit SVCleanEnergy.org.
Media Contact
Michaela Pippin
Communications Specialist
O: 408-721-5301 x1020
michaela.pippin@svcleanenergy.org
