LOS ANGELES, Dec. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced the completion of $465,000 in energy efficiency upgrades to 384 apartment units and the installation of 29 high efficiency boilers at Mountainside Apartments, an affordable housing community on Foothill Boulevard in Rancho Cucamonga. The work is part of SoCalGas' Energy Savings Assistance (ESA) Program's Common Area Measures (CAM) initiative. The upgrades will save an estimated 170,000 therms of natural gas over the lifetime of the upgrades, equivalent to removing 191 cars off of California's roads each year.
SoCalGas installed low-flow showerheads, low-flow aerators, thermostatic shower valves, thermostatic tub spouts and door weather-stripping in addition to the 29 high efficiency boilers put in place in the property's common areas that will provide hot water to the community. The property owner also participated in SoCalGas' On-Demand Efficiency and Multifamily Energy Efficiency Rebates programs which have helped reduce natural gas consumption and overall operating costs at the community.
"SoCalGas is proud to continue our work with National CORE, improving energy efficiency and reducing energy costs for low-income residents. Small changes in our energy consumption through energy efficient improvements can account for big savings on energy bills and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions," said Dan Rendler, director of customer programs and assistance at SoCalGas. "But not only do these upgrades reduce emissions and costs but also demonstrate SoCalGas' commitment to our vision to be the cleanest natural gas utility in North America."
Mountainside Apartments is owned and managed by National Community Renaissance (National CORE), one of the nation's largest nonprofit developers of high-quality cost-contained affordable housing, with more than 10,000 affordable, senior and market-rate units in California, Florida and Texas. During its 25-plus year history, National CORE has offered programs and services at no charge to its residents, creating communities that support educational attainment, economic mobility, and improved health.
"National CORE is proud of the work we are doing around sustainability. It is important to us to work with organizations like SoCalGas, who share our goal of combatting the effects of climate change. Our partnership with SoCalGas also allows us to give back to our residents by reducing their energy costs," said Dan Lorraine, Senior Vice President of Property Management for National CORE.
"The City of Rancho Cucamonga thanks the Southern California Gas Company for their efforts to upgrade affordable housing in Rancho Cucamonga," said L. Dennis Michael, mayor of Rancho Cucamonga. "Our Healthy RC initiative is all about preserving the environment and these measures ensure that some of our most vulnerable residents have access to improvement health, safety and affordability while improving the environment through conservation."
The CAM project in Rancho Cucamonga is one of two. SoCalGas completed another project in October through the Energy Savings Assistance Program located in Corona. At this property, SoCalGas installed 12 high efficiency boilers at the Corona Del Rey Apartments which are also owned and managed by National CORE. SoCalGas also recently contributed $10,000 to the Hope through Housing Foundation, managed by National CORE. The donation was used to beautify a community center space for at-risk youth at the Sunset Heights Apartment Homes in Rancho Cucamonga, owned by National CORE.
The Common Area Measures initiative, through the Energy Savings Assistance Program, aims to provide low-income, deed-restricted properties with no-cost energy saving upgrades to their common areas. This could include boiler/water heater replacements, pipe insulation and ancillary services. The program will be available through 2020.
To qualify, the property must be deed restricted and the owner must certify that at least 65 percent of the resident households meet the ESA income guidelines. Energy efficiency services provided differ by utility and are limited to the communal areas, or common energy systems, of the residential building(s) or property. This program can be combined with the ESA in-unit offerings.
SoCalGas continues to be a leader in implementing energy efficiency and low-income programs that provide assistance to customers and protect the environment. Between 2014 and 2018, SoCalGas energy efficiency programs delivered more than 180 million therms in energy savings, enough natural gas usage for 403,000 households a year, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by nearly 955,000 metric tons, the equivalent of removing more than 202,000 cars from the road annually. These advances have also helped save SoCalGas customers more than $198 million in utility bill costs. In 2018 alone, SoCalGas' energy efficiency programs saved customers $57 million and improved close to 100,000 homes.
About SoCalGas
Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest natural gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, clean and increasingly renewable natural gas service to 21.8 million customers across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California, where more than 90 percent of residents use natural gas for heating, hot water, cooking, drying clothes or other uses. Natural gas delivered through the company's pipelines also plays a key role in providing electricity to Californians— about 45 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants.
SoCalGas' vision is to be the cleanest natural gas utility in North America, delivering affordable and increasingly renewable energy to its customers. In support of that vision, SoCalGas is committed to replacing 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its natural gas system infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for our customers. From 2014 through 2018, the company invested nearly $6.5 billion to upgrade and modernize its natural gas system to enhance safety and reliability. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), an energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.
SOURCE Southern California Gas Company
