Saving on Your Energy Bill: Q&A with Energy Upgrade California's Matthew Greenfield

In a down economy with looming uncertainty for homeowners, any extra cash is welcome. While many people feel uncared-for or disconnected from the government, the State of California is actually investing time and money into a program to help combat tough modern economics for homeowners.

Through funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, money is being distributed from the California Energy Commission to a project called Energy Upgrade California.

Matthew Greenfield, a marketing coordinator for Energy Upgrade California, recently spoke with Patch about how the program can directly benefit Santa Cruz County homeowners, namely through an event on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at Ecology Action of Santa Cruz, 877 Cedar St., from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Patch: What is happening with the local event?

Matthew Greenfield: The program that's happening in Santa Cruz is supporting a statewide effort, the goal of which is to create green jobs, reduce energy waste and save homeowners money. 

The process that we go through is having these homeowner workshops where we partner with the county and assemble local participating contractors as well as representatives on the county level. We have them explain to all the homeowners in the area exactly what rebates are available and what level of financing is available and then we partner everyone with participating contractors in the area that can do the work.

Patch: What is the basic principle of the workshop?

MG: Basically, we're saying, "Hey, you're a homeowner. You want to save money on your energy bill and upgrade your house. Here are the rebates that are available. Here's how to access them. Here are participating contractors that are trained in the newest, best assessment tools for energy efficiency that can then go ahead and do this work."

Patch: Who will be speaking at the event?

MG: Ashley Watkins of Energy Upgrade California, Kevin Nunn, a certified mortgage planning specialist, Mark Van Meter of Van Meter Construction, and another local contractor too, Scott Milrod of Milrod Construction.

Patch: What else can people in attendance expect at the event?

MG: So, the Oct. 25 event, which is happening here at Ecology Action, is for anyone in Santa Cruz County and we're going to be explaining the whole approach, how to access the rebates, how to access the financing, and connect interested people with contractors in the area.

If you're interested in making your house more energy efficient and want to access the rebates offered by this state-run program, visit http://santacruz-euc.eventbrite.com/ to sign up.

For more info, see the video above.