Low-income neighborhoods will receive efficiency upgrades (Photo: Flickr)

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently approved a $1 billion budget over the next three years for the state’s Low Income Energy Efficiency (LIEE) program, which provides low-income households with energy efficient appliances and weatherization measures at no cost. The new ruling calls for an expansion of the LIEE program to reach all eligible customers by 2020, and to include measures that improve health, comfort, and safety, even if the cost effectiveness of those measures is low. The program will focus on a “whole house” and “whole neighborhood” approach, replacing piecemeal strategies such as handing out no-cost CFLs with integrated measures that include comprehensive energy audits, energy efficiency education, and long-term solutions.

The CPUC stressed that the LIEE program, which is administered by the state’s four large investor owned utilities, can no longer operate with a business-as-usual approach, and that it must evolve into a program that garners significant energy savings in the state while providing an improved quality of life for California’s low-income population.

• California Approves $1 Billion for Low-Income Energy Efficiency,” EERE News (11/12/2008)
• Read the press release: “ CPUC Sets Utility Budgets for Low Income Programs,” (CPUC, 11/6/08)
• Read more about California’s low-income energy efficiency programs
• Related: “ California Approves Long-Term Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan,” (e-Newswire, 10/1/08)