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Sacramento city officials are brainstorming the components of a program called “Go Green Sacramento” that would allow residents and businesses to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes and pay for the upgrades over several years.

Sacramento City Councilman Kevin McCarty, city staffers and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District want the program to offer homeowners and businesses a way to fund several different kinds of energy savings projects, such as weatherstripping and home sealing, duct sealing or installation of tankless water heaters.

The program would feature a voluntary “financing district,” which would serve as a system that homeowners and businesses could use to pay for energy efficiency upgrades. If a financing district is created, homeowners would voluntarily put assessments on their homes, explained Janelle Gray, the city’s treasury manager. The cost would appear on homeowners’ tax bills, she said.

Upfront costs for the energy efficiency upgrades would be “little” to none for participants in the program, according to a Go Green Sacramento fact sheet. McCarty said he and the other organizers want other cities in Sacramento County to participate in the program.

City staffers and SMUD staffers are currently outlining the elements of the Go Green Sacramento program. After the program is more defined, McCarty plans to bring the program to the City Council. City funds would not be used in the program, according to McCarty.

Go Green Sacramento is "loosely-based" on a city of Berkeley financing program for solar heating projects, McCarty said. A flaw in Berkeley's program is that it only focuses on solar, McCarty added.

McCarty said the program would give Sacramento residents a way to get involved with environmental efforts. “Because I think it’s important that as we address climate change and sustainability, that we empower our residents to be part of the effort as well,” McCarty told The Sacramento Press.

McCarty said that he and others planning Go Green Sacramento would like to give residents a menu of about 10 to 15 energy efficiency projects they could fund through the program.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

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susan

July 13, 2009 | 9:53 AM

I can't help but feel like this is a really very ill-timed proposal. I live in a neighborhood where foreclosures are happening all around me, my home value has plummeted and even our own financial situation isn't looking too good. I'm glad to make "green" decisions for my home and do so whenever possible (and financially feasible), but to be honest, it would be very hard for me, and I presume, my neighbors, to willingly add to our tax bill just to "get involved with environmental efforts." I certainly hope that SMUD and the City of Sacramento are consulting with someone with a little common sense about what would actually work here; we're not Berkeley.

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Joe Livaich

July 14, 2009 | 2:56 PM

Hi. This is Joe Livaich with Councilmember McCarty’s office. Thanks for your comment Susan. We understand the current economic times and do not want to add an extra burden on a homeowner. The program will be completely voluntary with a goal of helping people save money on their energy bills and actually putting money back in their pocket.

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William Burg

July 13, 2009 | 10:21 AM

The way to get things "greener" in times like these is to show people how energy efficiency can save them money! Instead of expensive ripoffs like vinyl window replacement, show people how to repair and restore their existing windows for a few bucks, and other easy tricks to make houses more energy-efficient. Weatherstripping, caulk, insulating foam, curtains and window shades, shade trees, duct maintenance--it looks like the original article mentions some of these.

The basic idea is showing how cheap energy-efficiency tricks can SAVE YOU MONEY RIGHT NOW, when people are looking for ways to save money. The "green" can mean both reduced carbon footprint and more "green" in your wallet!

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Joe Livaich

July 14, 2009 | 2:59 PM

Thanks for your comment William. We also feel that cheap alternatives exist to increase energy efficiency and save homeowners money right now. We are developing a list that will show exactly how much energy a homeowner can save for each investment. Basic weatherization efforts will surely be part of our menu item list.

Go Green Sacramento could really produce a significant positive impact for our city. We will keep everyone updated as we proceed.

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Dale Kooyman

edited on July 13, 2009 | 1:43 PM

One thing that city could do in the central city is stop cutting down healthy shade trees and replacing them with non-shade trees like Crape-Myrtles. It could plant more trees particularly on blocks that absentee landlords concreted over the park strips to avoid yard maintenance costs.

fThe city should also have removed the mistletoe on the Modesto Ash shade trees instead of enabling it spread throughout each tree with eventual destruction of the trees and now to other neighboring species (city owned and on private property) which were previously uninfected..

SMUD ,on one hand, promotes planting of shade trees on private property, preaching to home owners how much energy these trees save, but it continues to remove large amounts of shade from city trees around their power lines--lines which if it had to begun to underground major lines decades ago when it would have been relatively inexpensive and paid for over several years.

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