Calabasas wants to give residents incentives to save on energy

The city of Calabasas is developing a program that would help residents finance the installation of private energy systems, such as wind generators and solar panels.

AB 811, a bill signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger in July 2008, creates opportunities for cities to assist residents in financing energy improvements.

At a city Green Task Force meeting in August 2009, the city staff discussed Berkeley FIRST, a solar energy-financing program developed under the new bill in Berkeley, Calif.

In 2007, Berkeley voters passed Measure G, which set targets for a greenhouse gas reduction plan. Part of the plan was the development of a solar energy system on private homes throughout the city. Because the systems cost about $20,000 to install, the mayor’s office initiated a financing program.

The City Council gave staff the go-ahead to move forward on a similar program at last week’s meeting.

City Development Director Maureen Tamuri said some cities have provided the seed money for the loans from their general funds, while others have involved banks. Staff will begin research on the best way to finance the program.

Councilmember Mary Sue Maurer called herself a strong proponent of the program, and Mayor Jonathon Wolfson agreed.

“I’d like to see us move as expeditiously as possible,” Wolfson said. “We (need to) do our due diligence but move forward quickly.”

A voluntary tax district would be established. The loan is repaid through property tax assessments on participating homeowners over a 30-year period—the approximate time it would take to recover capital costs through energy savings, according to the staff report.

“Basically, everyone who owns property would be eligible, unlike in a bank system in which someone goes forward and says, ‘Mother, may I please have some money to conduct my improvements?’” Tamuri said.

“In that case the bank makes a determination on the basis of your debt and income as to whether or not they’re going to loan you the money. But in this particular case, it’s property ownership and the agreement to tax that property for a period of time.”

Using the Berkeley project as an example, the average installation cost of a solar panel system is around $22,500. Berkeley property owners who participated are assessed a property tax of $182 per month or $2,089 per year, equating to $28,077 at an estimated finance rate of 6.5 percent.

Tamuri said the program would also act as an economic stimulus.

“It will create jobs because people will actually be physically conducting improvements,” she said. “One of the things that our department is seeing is a significant decline in property improvements because of the weaknesses in our economy.”

The whole council was in favor of looking deeper into the program.

“Just as we’ve been zealots in water conservation, we need to be zealots in energy conservation,” said Councilmember Dennis Washburn.