New $2.45 million Energy Access SF program aims to bring efficiency, rebates to Bayview and other neighborhoods

San Francisco's Department of the Environment presented Energy Access SF, a new local-government partnership with PG&E designed to increase access to energy-efficiency programs in disadvantaged communities and other hard-to-reach customers.

Kathleen Bridal, senior energy efficiency specialist, said the program has a $2,450,000 budget over three years and uses a three-step approach: data science to identify likely participants (leveraging 15-minute interval smart-meter data), trusted messengers from the department's outreach teams to engage targeted residents and small and medium businesses, and referrals to existing third-party programs and implementers for bill relief, retrofits and installations.

Year 1 outreach is focused on Bayview-Hunters Point; year 2 will target the Mission/Excelsior and year 3 will focus on the SoMa/Tenderloin area and multifamily owners. Bridal and outreach associate Becca Rabin described multilingual materials and in-language phone staff (English, Spanish, Cantonese and Mandarin), mailers and follow-up phone calls, and two dedicated energy coaches for small and medium businesses.

Rabin said early Bayview outreach mailed to about 835 residents, emailed about 400 residents, and completed roughly 475 phone calls to contacts the program had. Of reachable residents contacted by phone, staff reported roughly 60% expressed interest in one or more programs.

Commissioners asked how PG&E and the CPUC will judge program success and what targets exist. Bridal said metrics are still being finalized with PG&E because of pandemic disruptions; program measures will include mailers sent, successful calls, energy assessments completed, action plans produced and referrals sent to implementers.

Bridal also noted operational constraints: PG&E could not share phone numbers or email addresses with the city, so staff relied on voter-registration data; that approach limits outreach to undocumented residents who are less likely to be registered. Staff said they will partner with community-based organizations, run local media ads, and deploy in-person outreach as public-health conditions permit.

The presentation continued the department's shift from the earlier San Francisco Energy Watch model to a direct, equity-focused outreach partnership intended to connect vulnerable residents and small businesses with existing energy programs.