CHERP receives CA Energy Commission Planning Grant

BY: LAUREN D’SOUZA, Social Media & Web Coordinator

The Community Home Energy Retrofit Project (CHERP) is a residential energy efficiency nonprofit founded in Claremont by Devon Hartman. CHERP has been active in Claremont, Huntington Beach, Sacramento, Monrovia, Danville, and more for over a decade, promoting home energy retrofits, solar power, and everyday energy efficiency tasks to get homes on the path to “Net Zero” emissions.

CHERP has partnered with UCLA, The Energy Coalition, and Los Angeles County to apply for the California Energy Commission’s EPIC Challenge. EPIC’s grant is dedicated to allocating money to deploying an “Advanced Energy Community” in a disadvantaged community in Southern California. CHERP identified South Claremont as a potential Advanced Energy Community, and received about $1.2 million in a planning grant to go towards quickly deploying energy efficiency technology among low-income homes.

“The goal,” said CHERP Executive Director Devon Hartman, “is to launch as many CHERP initiatives in South Claremont as possible. We want all the homes south of the Claremont railroad tracks to get to net zero.”

The grant received thus far is a planning grant; in 4-6 months, CHERP and its partners will apply for the California Energy Commission’s EPIC Challenge execution grant.

Part of the executive summary for the grant proposal is the construction of a solar manufacturing facility in Claremont, called Claremont Locally Grown Power (CLGP). The CLGP project involves economic stimulus for Claremont and the surrounding area, and massive potential for residential carbon mitigation. The factory will manufacture GEN3 solar arrays, and since the panels are made locally using a nonprofit model, the arrays can be bought and installed at a much lower cost.

CHERP and its major partner, idealPV, estimate that CLGP will create more than 550 jobs, expand the local retail economy by 12%, and help more than 6,000 homes. Devon has also spoken with professors of Physics at Harvey Mudd, discussing the possibility of integrating CLGP technology and research with physics curriculum, allowing students to have hands-on involvement in the program and learn about economics and environmental justice issues.

CHERP is also instituting a partnership with GRID Alternatives, a nonprofit organization that brings the benefits of solar technology to communities that would not otherwise have access. GRID has committed to bringing solar power to 40-50 low-income families completely for free, which aligns with the EPIC Challenge’s overall goal for disadvantaged communities.

“This model is great because we are starting from the low-income level and working up,” said Hartman. “We’re taking the biggest challenges head-on, thanks to the Energy Commission and our incredible partners.”

To learn more about the grant, CLGP, and CHERP, read the white papers below. CHERP is accepting applications for summer interns to execute the planning phase of the grant—for more information, email Devon Hartman at devon@hartmanenergystrategies.com.