For well over a year now, PG&E Corp., California’s biggest power utility company, has been the subject of intense controversy. In 2018, after the Camp Fire, California’s largest and deadliest wildfire in history, devastated nearly twenty thousand properties in Northern California and killed 85 civilians, it was revealed that the single source of the ruinous blaze was a PG&E transmission line that had snapped due to wind. To add to that, in an internal report, PG&E disclosed that their transmission towers were dangerously outdated—though they were never meant to be in use for longer than 65 years, their towers were an average of 68 years old, with some of the older steel towers being 108 years old. Since then, many have called the power utility's trustworthiness into question.
In response, PG&E is planning to suspend all power on all high wind days during the wildfire season, meaning that millions of Californians could lose power, sometimes with little to no notice. Though customers who reside in high fire-threat areas are more likely to face cuts, any of PG&E’s 5 million customers could also experience power outages if their community relies upon a line that passes through a high fire-threat area.
Although power cuts can be inconvenient and irksome to most, they can pose serious issues for populations such as the elderly and/or those who rely on electronic medical devices. Additionally, sometimes these cuts can extend to a week, rather than an hour or a day.
There is, however, a solution to this.
At V3 Electric, we believe in taking the power out of the hands of monopolies like PG&E and putting them in the hands of our customers. The result is reliable, clean energy, as well as grid independence. You can live comfortably knowing that you’ll always have access to electricity, even on windy days.
Determining if you are eligible for the SGIP Equity Resilience Program is easy. Check below to see if you fit either of the criteria. You can achieve a better way today!
Equity Program (low-income option) Single-family households must meet one of the following criteria
Live in a disadvantaged community (DAC)
Low-income homeowner = income is less than 80% of income and the house has an affordable housing designation
Enrolled in one of these solar programs: SASH, DAC-SASH, MASH, SOMAH
Equity Resiliency Program (fire risk option) Step 1: Located in a Tier 3 or Tier 2 High Fire Threat District OR has experienced 2+ Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) AND
Step 2: One of the following is true:
● Eligible for equity budget
● Medical baseline customer
● Rely on electric-pump wells for water supply
● Notified their utility of serious illness/condition that could become life-threatening without electricity
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