How to cut energy bills through upgrades, subsidies

Utilities and government agencies offer ways to cut energy bills through home upgrades and subsidies.

One home efficiency program is offered for the Bay Area by Energy Upgrade California. The program, bayareaenergyupgrade.org, offers incentives of up to $3,000 for a basic home upgrade and up to $5,500 for an advanced energy efficiency upgrade.

Also, a variety of for-profit and government programs allow the cost of various energy-related home improvements to be financed with no money down and paid off via property tax bills. A pioneer effort was the public Sonoma County Energy Independence Program.

From the county libraries in Santa Rosa, Guerneville and Sebastopol, residents can check out new “Do It Yourself” Energy and Water Savings Toolkits. The kits, made possible with the help of four local agencies including Sonoma Clean Power, provide tools and information for such upgrade projects as weather-stripping windows and doors, monitoring electrical use, determining water leaks and switching to LED light bulbs.

PG&E offers customers an online home energy checkup.

On the rate-reduction side, PG&E estimates that 11,000 Sonoma County households are eligible but have yet to apply to have their bills cut 20 percent or more each month.

The California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) Program is available to families whose annual household income is $48,600 or less for a family of four. Such households also are eligible for aid in replacing refrigerators, furnaces and water heaters, as well as making other energy-saving improvements through the utility's Energy Savings Assistance Program.