In a bold step toward fully greenifying Santa Barbara County, Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) launched a program to offer rebates for the purchase and installation of battery storage systems. The Residential Battery Rebate Program is anticipated to not only save customers money, but also usher in significant environmental gains. Importantly, no accompanying solar-panel system is needed to be eligible for these rebates.
Electricity utility company 3CE, whose primary goal is to make eco-friendly energy readily available to customers through incentives, will provide a standard rebate for home backup power batteries that earns its customers $3,900 on average. Additionally, 3CE offers CARE (California Alternative Rates for Energy), FERA (Family Electricity Rate Assistance), and Medical Baselines customers a higher rebate, valued at approximately $6,500. The program promises to distribute 400 home batteries per fiscal year.
In combination with other benefits, 3CE anticipates that most, if not all, of the cost to buy and install the batteries will be covered. Moreover, 3CE estimates that upward of $9,000 in savings will be realized when customers transition to battery energy as they gain more control over the time-of-day energy costs underlying electricity billing.
The Residential Battery Rebate Program may also be able to attenuate Santa Barbara’s high fire season.
During a Board of Supervisors meeting on July 16, Das Willilams, 1st District County Supervisor, lamented the disastrous repercussions that reliance on fuel-based energy can trigger. Especially as Santa Barbara navigates peak fire season, Williams reminded that gas-powered engines are poised to significantly exacerbate the number of fires along the Central Coast.
“I think that people forget that any gasoline internal combustion engine has a spark underneath it. And, in many conditions, that won’t create problems. But in the conditions that we face for 50 percent, and sometimes a lot more than 50 percent, of the year, it can be devastating.” Williams said, referring to the heat generated by catalytic converters on the underside of vehicles.
Compounded by unpredictable Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS), when electricity is temporarily shut off to reduce the risk of fires caused by the grid infrastructure, anxiety and uncertainty rages alongside flames during fire season. Williams noted, “The first thing that occurs to everybody during PSPS season is, ‘Should I get a backup power?’ And, unfortunately, if everyone gets a diesel generator, we’ll all be living in terrible air and increased fire risk from other vectors.”
On the board of the power nonprofit since Santa Barbara County joined in 2021, Williams spotlighted 3CE’s potential to better help the Central Coast during fire season. These battery-powered energy reserves could be retrieved at any time, even when energy is turned off during PSPS outages.
The Residential Battery Rebate Program is merely another phase in 3CE’s broader plan to electrify California and minimize greenhouse gas emissions. With a mission to deliver 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2030, 3CE has implemented programs to make eco-friendly energy readily available, and used rebates and other benefits to persuade customers to switch their homes, workplace, and transportation from combustion power to non-carbon-emitting fuel sources. Customers can learn more and apply for the Residential Battery Rebate Program by visiting 3CEnergy.org/rebates.
