LOS ANGELES, Nov. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern
California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today joined the Retirement Housing
Foundation (RHF), a non-profit, affordable housing provider, and
the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) to mark the
completion of a two-year, $1 million
energy efficiency project at Angelus Plaza in downtown Los Angeles. The energy efficiency upgrades
are estimated to save over $150,000
annually in natural gas, equal to 160,000 therms of gas. This
project will reduce emissions equal to taking nearly 200 cars off
the road each year. The project is part of SoCalGas' Energy Savings
Assistance Program's Common Area Measures (CAM)
initiative. SoCalGas completed similar, smaller-scale energy
efficiency projects at 35 RHF properties across Southern California. Please see photos from
today's event here.
"At SoCalGas, our vision is to be the cleanest natural gas
utility in North America,
delivering affordable and increasingly renewable energy to our
customers," said Jeff Walker, vice
president of customer solutions for SoCalGas. "These energy
efficiency upgrades demonstrate this commitment by helping
low-income customers conserve energy and helping RHF to improve the
living experience for residents through more affordable energy.
SoCalGas is proud to have been a part of this work."
"I can tell you that the Angelus Plaza project happened because
of what the SoCalGas team did with getting us enrolled early in
site-wide energy conservation programs," said Stuart Hartman, senior vice president of
operations at the Retirement Housing Foundation. "They were a true
partner every step of the way. The energy audit that SoCalGas
commissioned opened up the full potential for gas, electric and
water savings as well greenhouse gas reductions. Our site-wide
systems reliability and overall efficiencies will improve
immensely."
"I'd like to congratulate Southern California Gas Company and
the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for completing a
major energy efficiency upgrade to Angelus Plaza," said
Jose Huizar, Los Angeles City
Councilmember. "The project was completed at no cost to residents.
This is precisely the kind of forward-thinking initiative that
makes the City of Los Angeles a
model for other urban areas across the nation."
The two-year, million-dollar undertaking at Angelus Plaza,
replaced six domestic hot water boilers, six space heating hot
water boilers and installed one tankless hot water heater with
higher efficiency equipment. The project also installed pipe
insulation and on-demand boiler controls.
In partnership with LADWP, SoCalGas completed upgrades in over
1,000 of the apartment units at Angelus Plaza. This work included
installing low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators, thermostatic
shower valves, door weather-stripping, common area lighting, LED
lights and more. Through the Energy Savings Assistance Program
(ESAP), the work completed came at no cost to RHF and will improve
the comfort and safety of the residents living at Angelus
Plaza.
SoCalGas' Low Income and Energy Efficiency programs provided
over $1 million in funding to Angelus
Plaza for these improvements.
"LADWP is proud to partner with SoCalGas in this project to
improve the comfort and quality of life for Los Angeles seniors," said David Jacot, P.E.,
Director of Energy Efficiency for the Los Angeles Department of
Water & Power. "The long term energy, water and financial
savings resulting from these energy efficiency upgrades will yield
many benefits to the residents of Angelus Plaza for many years to
come."
The annual energy savings for the 1,000 LED bulbs, 1,000 LED
night lights and 1,000 Smart Power Strips installed under ESAP is
estimated at 169,400 kilowatt hours, enough to power 28
homes.
The water savings achieved through the simple installation of
shower heads and faucet aerators is estimated at 6,862,657 gallons
per year; enough to supply the annual water needs for 64 homes.
In addition 600,029 kilowatt-hours in savings were achieved
through the installation of larger lighting fixtures under LADWP's
Commercial Lighting Incentive Program (CLIP). This is enough energy
to power 50 homes for one year, or the equivalent of removing 88
gas-powered vehicles from our highways.
In total, Angelus Plaza's participation in LADWP's Energy
Efficiency programs, qualified it for $139,270 in rebates and incentives.
In addition to work at Angelus Plaza, which represents a
multiyear utility and owner collaboration, SoCalGas, in partnership
with LADWP, has completed upgrades at 35 other RHF properties. This
represents over 5,300 affordable housing units, throughout southern
California including Sun City
Gardens, The Concord, Harbor
Tower, and Pilgrim Tower North.
RHF has participated in SoCalGas' On-Demand Efficiency, Energy
Savings Assistance and Energy Smart programs to improve the tenant
experience throughout RHF's portfolio of affordable properties.
Upgrades across RHF's properties include but are not limited
to:
- Energy Savings Assistance Program work:
-
- Over 3,000 affordable units served
- On-Demand Efficiency Program work:
-
- Energy Smart Program work:
-
SoCalGas continues to be a leader in energy efficiency and
helping to reduce emissions. Over the last five years, SoCalGas
energy efficiency programs delivered more than 180 million therms
in energy savings for customers, enough natural gas usage for
403,000 households a year. These advances have also helped save
SoCalGas customers more than $198
million in utility bill costs. In 2018 alone, SoCalGas'
energy efficiency programs saved customers $57 million.
The commitment to reducing energy use is also evident in the
SoCalGas vision, as announced earlier this year. As part of this
vision to be the cleanest natural gas utility in North America, SoCalGas committed to replace
20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable
natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Research shows that replacing about 20
percent of California's
traditional natural gas supply with RNG would lower emissions equal
to retrofitting every building in the state to run on electric only
energy and at a fraction of the cost. Using RNG in buildings can be
two to three times less expensive than any all-electric strategy
and does not require families or businesses to purchase new
appliances or take on costly construction projects. Learn more
about SoCalGas's vision.
Customers can learn more about Common Area Measures and Energy
Savings Assistance Programs by visiting
socalgas.com/save-money-and-energy/assistance-programs.
About SoCalGas
Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is
the largest natural gas distribution utility in the
United States. SoCalGas delivers
safe, affordable, reliable, clean and increasingly renewable
natural gas service to 21.8 million customers across 24,000
square miles of Central and Southern California, where
more than 90 percent of residents use natural gas for heating, hot
water, cooking, drying clothes or other uses. Natural gas delivered
through the company's pipelines also plays a key role in providing
electricity to Californians— about 45 percent of electric
power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power
plants.
SoCalGas' vision is to be the cleanest natural gas utility in
North America, delivering
affordable and increasingly renewable energy to its customers. In
support of that vision, SoCalGas is committed to replacing 20
percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable
natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from
waste created by dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment
plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its natural gas
system infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for our
customers. From 2014 through 2018, the company invested
nearly $6.5 billion to upgrade and modernize its natural
gas system to enhance safety and reliability. SoCalGas is a
subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), an energy
services holding company based in San Diego. For more
information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with
SoCalGas
on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas)
and Facebook.
About Retirement Housing Foundation
Headquartered in Long Beach,
Retirement Housing Foundation (RHF) is one of this country's
largest nonprofit organizations with a mission of providing various
housing options for older adults, low-income families and persons
with disabilities. RHF means home to more than 22,500 people in 197
housing communities in 29 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information
visit www.rhf.org and connect with RHF on Twitter (@RHFoundation)
and Facebook.
About LADWP
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is the nation's
largest municipal utility, with a 7,880 megawatt electric capacity
and serves an average of 438 million gallons of water per day to 4
million residents, its business and visitors in the City of Los Angeles. LADWP is aggressively
working with its customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
expanding renewable energy, energy efficiency and other clean
energy alternatives. LADWP puts customers first by offering
numerous rebate and incentive programs to help them reduce their
energy use while also saving on their bills. To learn more about
LADWP's commercial rebate programs visit www.ladwp.com or call
(800) DIAL-DWP. LADWP is also on Twitter (@LADWP) and Facebook.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company