I had a wonderful reader email me today to share her experience with PG&E and this Partner Energy Program. I was shocked to read the list of services they performed at her home for FREE today! These are her words…
Hi Julia,I just wanted to let you know about the PG & E Energy Partners program, in case you qualify for it. It is for folks with a limited income. I qualify, being a single mom, collecting unemployment. I called and registered a few weeks ago. Then a woman from PG&E came to my house and did an assessment of what I might need. Then today, 2 contractors came (scheduled an appt with them in advance) and worked on my house for about 2 hours, all free to me!This is a partial list of what they did:
- Weather stripping on garage door and front door
- Weather stripping on ceiling attic entry
- Checked attic for insulation (determined I didn’t need any, but if I did, they would come back and put that in)
- Replaced all lamp bulbs with energy efficient bulbs.
- Replaced 3 interior ceiling lights with energy saver lights (nice, simple design)
- Replaced 1 exterior light with a motion sensored light
- Replaced 2 shower heads with more efficient ones
- Put a layer of insulation under every electrical outlet (I think there were 38 of them)
- Put some insulation under the vanities in both bathrooms (how embarrassing, my stock piles were under there!)
- Checked carbon monoxide levels on all my gas appliances
- Inspected heater, a/c, dryer, and hot water heater (if there were issues, modifications may have been covered)
I understand for low income folks with very old refrigerators, they would actually give them a new refrigerator! I hope this helps you or someone else!
I was incredibly curious about this program so I got the following information directly from PG&E’s website -
Do I qualify?
- Your household’s total annual gross income must not exceed our income guidelines. View income qualification chart.
- You must receive gas and/or electricity from Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
- If your residence has never participated in the Energy Partners Program or if your residence participated prior to 1999.
What can I get from the Energy Partners Program?
Here are examples of measures we may provide:
- Attic insulation
- Caulking
- CFLs
- Door weather-stripping
- Energy-saver showerhead
- Minor home repair
- Water heater blanket
We may also replace the following appliances for qualified customers:
- Evaporative coolers
- Refrigerator
How to get started?
You can create a referral for the contractor to contact you by the following methods:
- PG&E’s Smarter Energy Line: 1-800-933-9555
- TDD/TTY service: 1-800-652-4712
Speech or hearing impaired customers - Fill out this referral form
- Find a contractor by ZIP code
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve actually particpated in this program myself – and it is wonderful. The service men that come and inspect your home and perform the work are decent, clean, and respectful. The work is done quickly and it really makes a difference – we saved almost almost half off our heating bill through weatherizing. Thanks for encouraging your readers to check it out – it’s worth the time it takes to look into it!
I just used this program. I only received a few new light bulbs, a new light-sensing front porch light and a new standing lamp. I would have received a water heater blanket, but they found corrosion (which I’ve reported to the landlord). I highly recommend that people use this service.
Thanks! We are already members of the CARE program and had no idea they did this too. Just submitted all my info. so we will see what they do for us.
here there a program like this in ohio
Who pays for CARE? It seems to me that the PG&E rates are approved by the PUC. Do they have the power to have one person pay $1.00 per KWH and his neighbor pay $3.00 for the same hour. PG&E is the only company we can buy gas and electricity from–it is a monopoly–it is a company that pays its management extremely high wages and does not truly management its product. Look at the gas line explosion that killed 8 people and blew up a whole neighborhood in San Mateo. Look at the gas line south of Bakersfield with welds extremely dangerous to the nearby residents. A few years ago PG&E installed a new computer program. Despite the fact that my bill was going directly of my bank for payment and they were adding money to my bill with my permission for the Salvation Army, they said I was not a customer and put charges with no documentation into the bill for a rental home I owned. Despite my complaint and proof the rental home was unoccupied the PUC agreed with PG&E. PUC is no organization to protect an ordinary citizen. A year or so ago I started getting a reduction in my PG&E bill because CARE was taking care of it. CARE was an organization I had never heard of but I enjoyed the discounts because they were sizeable; so I kept my fingers crossed. Last month, I received a notice from PG&E that I had to submitt an income statement or my CARE discount would be eliminated. I am over 80 years of age; so I had my son check into PG&E and CARE and as expected I am not elgible for the discount. My question is, “Why does PG&E ,who has a monopoly from the state, have a right to charge different people different rates for the same product)? I did not apply to CARE for a discount as I did not know it existed. How many other peope get this discount who may be PG&E executives or friends or next door neighbors to the CEO??
{ 3 trackbacks }