Residents enjoy saving hundreds of dollars on their electric
bills
Gilroy – Energy savings weren’t the main reason Skip and Judy Bloom bought one of Gilroy’s first solar-powered homes, but that hasn’t stopped the couple from showing off their PG&E bill.
While many residents received electric bills in excess of $200 following the heat wave in late July, the Blooms received a bill from PG&E for $4.50.
None of the four families who recently purchased homes in their gated community at the end of Wayland Lane knew how low utility bills would run, according to Skip Bloom, a captain in the San Jose Fire Department. Despite energy-efficient designs that keep their home naturally cool, the Blooms still cranked up the air conditioner in July during 100-plus degree temperatures.
“We all kind of were waiting to see how it would turn out,” Bloom said about the energy costs. When he finally received the bill, he was so amazed he brought it to work show his colleagues.
“The fact that it was solar was just a bonus for us,” Bloom said about the house.
Other than the solar panels lining half of one side of the roof, the energy-saving components of the four homes in the project are barely noticeable. Each of them have double-paned windows, solar-powered attic fans that draw hot air out of the house, and energy-efficient appliances, including dishwashers with timers that allow them to operate at night, when electricity is cheaper.
The homes can draw energy from the power grid during stretches of bad weather, when solar panels generate less electricity. And when plenty of sun beats down on the panels, homeowners can earn electricity credits from PG&E for generating more power than they consume.
PG&E pays developers and homeowners a rebate to put solar panels on homes, according to spokesman Brian Swanson.
“Since the program began in 2002, PG&E has paid out over $150 million in solar rebates,” he said. “We have hooked up more solar customers than any other utility in the nation. We have over 12,000 solar customers who can generate about 88 megawatts of solar energy. One megawatt in California is enough electricity to power about 750 homes.”
Solar panels add roughly $15,000 to a home’s price, after rebates from PG&E and the state. For individual homeowners, long-term energy savings usually cancel out the mark-up on home prices within a decade, according to Christopher Cote, the developer behind the project.
“One of the ways we can start to remediate air quality issues and take Gilroy from being one of the most polluted cities in the Bay Area to being one of the least polluted is by building solar homes,” Cote said. “I tell people that solar power not only makes common sense, but also dollars and cents.”
The solar homes where the Blooms live are the first constructed in Gilroy. Cote plans to build another solar-powered project of 21 units on Gurries Drive. City Council has already approved two other projects with solar panels.
