Sonoma Clean Power, the public energy provider serving Sonoma and Mendocino counties, has been awarded a nearly $5 million grant from the California Energy Commission to expand smart energy access to underserved communities and reduce emissions across the region.
The grant, combined with an additional $1 million from Sonoma Clean Power, will go toward the $6 million expansion of the utility’s GridSavvy Rewards program, an initiative to help renters, income-qualified households, and small businesses access smart energy technologies.
“This funding allows us to scale a program that’s already proven to work and bring its benefits to the people who need them most,” Sonoma Clean Power CEO Geof Syphers said in a news release. “By moving from manual alerts to smart devices that automate savings, we’re making it simple for customers to cut costs while strengthening the grid. That’s the kind of clean energy future everyone should share in.”
The four-year California Energy Commission grant will remain in effect until 2029, with installations set to begin in early 2026. Program participation is voluntary to ensure Sonoma Clean Power customers retain full control of their devices.
According to the utility, the program expansion includes installing 1,000 free smart thermostats in income-qualified homes and automatic program enrollment for those households, providing incentives for 7,500 new devices, deploying 40 smart panels and battery systems to offer multi-family renters access to advanced technology and reliable backup power, enrolling up to 500 small businesses in the program to help reduce costs and effectively manage energy and investing $250,000 in partnerships with local organizations to lead multilingual outreach and enrollment efforts.
“This initiative shows what equity in action looks like,” Jonah Steinbuck, research and development division director of the California Energy Commission said. “Sonoma Clean Power is poised to deploy advanced technologies where they’re needed most, delivering cleaner, smarter and more affordable energy for all.”