Multifamily property owner Bakari Kafele has much to be thankful for: His wife, his baby, and MCE’s partnership with the City of Richmond that provided him with substantial cash rebates for energy-efficient upgrades. Bakari reached out to this program, known as Energize Richmond, when he needed to perform upgrades on his three tenant units, but was short on funds after paying his mortgage, property taxes, and insurance, in addition to raising a newborn.
MCE worked closely and quickly with Bakari to help assess his property, select qualifying appliances, answer questions, and approve $2,138 in MCE and Energize Richmond rebates —over half of the $3,926 in total upgrade costs.
“We were able to upgrade all of our units’ water heaters to much more efficient, instant, tankless units, and replace two old refrigerators with Energy Star® units, which we couldn't have done without the program,” said Kafele. “As a bonus, they replaced every light bulb on the property with dimmable LEDs. The total rebate was several thousand dollars, which at our income level, made the difference between being able to do the projects or not.”
The Energize Richmond program is funded by California utility customers and administered by MCE under the auspices of the California Utilities Commission and the City of Richmond, and offers complementary rebates to multifamily property owners who choose to upgrade with energy-efficient appliances.
Multifamily properties in Richmond can take advantage of the Energize Richmond rebate program by completing the application form or calling (415) 464-6033 before December 31st.
Resources:
Energize Richmond Case Study (pdf)
MCE Multifamily Energy Savings Program
