Breaking Barriers to Clean Energy

The Low-Income Leveraging Pilot report examines how supplemental funding and program coordination can help overcome major barriers to home electrification for low-income households in California. The pilot partnered with existing energy-efficiency programs to provide additional support for remediation, repairs, and heat-pump installations that would otherwise exceed typical funding caps, with implementation support from The Ortiz Group in collaboration with TECH Clean California.

Across 520 participating households, the pilot found that remediation costs were highly variable but averaged about $5,900 per home, with higher needs in disadvantaged communities, older housing stock, and mobile homes. The study highlights that flexible funding structures, streamlined incentive stacking, and stronger contractor training are critical to expanding electrification access.

Overall, the findings show that leveraging existing programs and adopting more flexible, portfolio-based funding strategies can significantly increase participation, improve household health and comfort, and advance equitable clean-energy goals.