TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director of Planning, Building & Environmental Services (PBES)
REPORT BY: Ryan Melendez, Planner II - Sustainability, PBES
SUBJECT: Presentation on the BayREN Efficiency & Sustainable Energy (EASE) Home Program
RECOMMENDATION
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Receive a presentation on the Bay Area Regional Energy Network Efficiency & Sustainable Energy Home program and its impacts in Napa County to date. (No Fiscal Impact)
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BACKGROUND
The Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) is a coalition of the nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)/Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). BayREN serves the Bay Area with three core priorities:
• Promoting healthy and energy efficient buildings for residents and businesses;
• Building capacity for local governments and contractors to increase their impact; and
• Reducing carbon emissions by catalyzing regional activities.
BayREN currently offers nine (9) programs with different offerings for residents, businesses, and industry professional workforce, education, and training. This presentation highlights the new BayREN Single Family Residential Program: the Efficiency and Sustainable Energy (EASE) Home program for one- to four-unit residential properties.
In Napa County, ongoing building operations accounted for 23% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019. Many buildings - both residential and commercial - in Napa are older with less efficient equipment, leading to increased energy consumption and GHG emissions, and higher utility bills. Updating the aging existing buildings in Napa County will be imperative to reducing emissions and reaching climate goals in the region, and BayREN is helping property owners to afford many of the upgrades needed to their homes.
The BayREN EASE Home program provides turnkey energy upgrade services to income-qualified property owners and renters in one- to four-unit residential buildings. The program is designed to make participation as simple as possible, covering the full lifecycle of each project:
• Simple application process with dedicated program support;
• Comprehensive home energy assessment to identify the highest-impact priority projects;
• Full program management, including vetted contractor coordination, scheduling installations, securing permits, arranging inspections to ensure code compliance, and assisting with external rebate applications; and
• Post-installation support and a one-year warranty on completed upgrades
Since the program launched in Napa County in September 2025, the EASE program has achieved meaningful early results: 17 homes have participated in the program. These projects represent approximately $132,500 in total upgrade costs. BayREN incentives have covered approximately $116,000 of these costs, leaving participating property owners responsible for roughly $16,500 collectively.
Looking ahead, staff aims to serve approximately 50 homes in Napa County in 2026 and expand awareness of this program among eligible residents throughout the community.
FISCAL IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
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Additional Information |
Strategic Initiatives: Champion Environmental Sustainability and Resilience |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.