The City of Santa Clara, California, has collaborated with MidPen Housing, a regional non-profit affordable housing developer, owner, and manager, to bring energy efficiency improvements to Riverwood Grove apartments, a 71-unit affordable housing complex in Santa Clara.
Funded by the City of Santa Clara through the federal Community Development Block Grant and Silicon Valley Power, the improvements aim to replace gas appliances for heating, cooling, hot water, and cooking with electric equipment. Transitioning the apartment building to electric will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve indoor air quality and create energy efficiency.
SVP is a public power utility.
The Santa Clara City Council has made sustainability a key priority, emphasizing implementation through cross-departmental collaboration, and championing electrification where feasible.
“The Riverwood Grove improvement project shows how leadership priorities, community partnerships, and diverse funding resources can be leveraged to enhance the community’s quality of life. Retrofitting the Riverwood Grove apartments will provide tremendous benefits to a low-income housing community by helping residents save on utility costs,” the city said.
To date, the project has been awarded $950,000 of CDBG funding, with another $500,000 to be covered by SVP funds allocated by the State limited to use for these types of initiatives. Phase I of the project includes electrical panel upgrades in anticipation of electric heating/cooling, hot water, and cooking appliance upgrades. In Phase II, current gas appliances will be replaced with energy efficient electric appliances.
“We’re really stepping in and looking for ways to help the most vulnerable members of our community,” said Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor. “The benefits of electrification should not be available only to those who can afford it. Every member of this community has a right to cleaner air, and lower costs.”
“All 71 units (100% of the residents) will benefit from the energy improvements at the property, which serves large families with extremely low and very low incomes,” according to City Manager Jovan Grogan. “Additionally, the electrification scope of the project aligns with the City Council’s sustainability and climate action goals and further supports SVP’s push towards clean energy and electrification.”
SVP is the not-for-profit electric municipal utility of Santa Clara, serving residents and businesses for over 125 years. SVP provides power to over 58,000 customers, at rates 25 to 48 percent below neighboring communities.
SVP is the only full-service, vertically integrated publicly owned utility in Silicon Valley, owning generation, transmission and distribution assets. For more information, visit SiliconValleyPower.com.
