Schools and families need help now

The last 11 years were the hottest ever recorded. As more frequent and extreme heatwaves sweep across California, lawmakers must help schools and families stay cool and stay safe — without draining the bank account — before completing their work in the State Capitol this month. They can help give schools and families relief by saving California’s only Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) grant program for schools and supporting the state’s largest virtual power plant providing cheaper, cleaner energy when temperatures soar and the grid is under strain.

Students need cooler, cleaner air

Unless state leaders act this month, the California Schools Healthy Air, Plumbing, and Efficiency Program (CalSHAPE) will be gone next year. Students and teachers deserve better — over 4,000 California schools received HVAC assessments that recommended repairs or replacements, but less than 200 have received the funds to fix those problems.

Key funds hoarded

For two years, $194 million has sat idle collecting interest while thousands of schools wait for help. With each dollar in school HVAC upgrades resulting in $30 in social benefits, California risks abandoning $5.8 billion in equity driven by improved educational outcomes, reduced respiratory illness, and reduced vulnerability to extreme heat and wildfire smoke.

Time for a two-fer

Before concluding their work at the end of this month, lawmakers must:

• Extend CalSHAPE and send the $194 million to schools ready for HVAC upgrades
• Put $70 million in interest on unspent, non-ratepayer CalSHAPE funds to work preventing blackouts while expanding access to cheaper, cleaner energy for families by investing them in the state’s largest virtual power plant created through the Demand-Side Grid Support Program

The virtues of a virtual power plant

This is our moment to save Californians more than $200 million on energy bills while building a cleaner, cheaper electricity future. By linking batteries, smart thermostats and other home devices across 200,000 homes, the Demand-Side Grid Support Program helps power our grid like a traditional power plant. By investing in its success, lawmakers can end California’s reliance on the most expensive, dirty sources of electricity provided by peaker power plants when their contracts expire this year.

Learn how your community can benefit

• See how many schools stand to miss out on HVAC grants through CalSHAPE
• See how your community benefits from the state’s largest virtual power plant