Southern California Gas Co. has received a $1.7 million award from the South Coast Air Quality Management District for two projects aimed at reducing emissions in residential and commercial buildings, the utility announced Thursday.
The funding will support a commercial water heating incentive program that provides rebates to distributors selling ultra-low emission water heaters.
It also will be used to build a 1.5-kilowatt fuel cell in a new, mixed fuel, zero-net-energy home that will demonstrate how renewable energy and natural gas can work together to reduce emissions at a lower cost for the homeowner.
The money is part of a $61 million AQMD funding pool for projects focused on reducing stationary and mobile source emissions in the Los Angeles Basin.
“We (work) to find innovative ways to reduce emissions and provide our customers with equipment that helps to keep their energy bills affordable,” SoCalGas Vice President of Customer Solutions and Strategy Sharon Tomkins said. “Curbing California’s emissions requires cooperation from all sectors — policymakers, businesses and consumers.”
In addition to receiving funding for two of the company’s projects, SoCalGas is supporting BioFuels Energy with its fuel cell power generation system at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, which also was awarded AQMD funding.