In the past six years, the Benicia Home Efficiency Program— a city-sponsored, nonprofit program that provides energy consultation to homeowners— has completed 676 home consultations, saved 10.2 million gallons of water and 370 metric tons of carbon dioxide, and trained and employed more than 70 Benicia High School students. However, the program may have to discontinue at the end of the month due to a lack of funds.

According to program manager Staci Givens, the project was funded through the Valero Good Neighbor Steering Committee Settlement Agreement by way of the Community Sustainability Commission. After receiving grant applications, the commission would make recommendations to the City Council regarding distribution of Valero funds.

Although BHEP received funding in the 2015-16 fiscal year, funding is not available for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

“Once the funding we received for 15-16 runs out, we will have to discontinue BHEP,” Givens said.

BHEP began as a pilot program for WattzOn, a home energy consultation company based out of Mountain View, which was created to help fulfill some goals for the company.

“We wanted to build a national platform for household energy savings,” she said. “We wanted to help residents reduce energy expense through interactive methods. And we thought energy savings is not a utility issue, but one that can be engaging in many settings – hence a community program.”

The program also looked to boost Benicia’s economy and provide high school students with job skills and training through its internship program.

According to Givens, BHEP turned out to be a success with more than half of the program’s budget since 2012 being spent locally— more than $230,000.

“If you factor in the water and energy savings that were achieved from those residents that participated in the program, the total economic impact is over $675,000,” she said. “This means that $1.70 goes back to Benicia for every dollar that the program spends.”

Additionally, the program also trained high schoolers to go out into the community to talk to residents about energy-saving possibilities. It also taught public speaking skills, as the interns would deliver reports on the program at Benicia Unified School District’s governing board meetings.

“The internship is teaching me that I am able to make a difference in my community as a 16-year-old, and that I don’t have to be an adult to make a change and bring awareness to important issues,” junior Nathan Conner said.

BHEP also hosted a table at the Benicia Mini Maker Faire in April, where residents could participate in a “Jeopardy”-style game about water and energy usage and conservation.

“It was such a great experience seeing how amazed people were at some the questions and their answers,” junior Amaya Clark said.

Other students cited additional skills the program has helped them with.

“Talking to residents builds up my communication skills, and I’ve learned to step out of my comfort zone,” sophomore Kalin Nagle said. “I very much enjoy environmental science and this job is a great way to get involved. Because BHEP works with high school students, my school work and internship balance out quite nicely. This job is a great opportunity for me to get hands on work experience for the real world.”

The program has worked to convince the city to provide further funding. Givens, CSC members, a parent of one of the interns and members of the public spoke at a City Council meeting to allocate some of the funds from the Marin Clean Energy solar project to BHEP. Although councilmembers were not happy about losing a program that met the goals of Benicia’s Climate Action Program, it was noted that funds had to remain within the city for solar-related costs and operations.

Since then, residents have written letters of support for the program to city officials to no avail.

“On WattzOn’s end, we have applied for outside grants, tried to form partnerships with outside organizations, all to keep BHEP alive, but again there hasn’t been success,” Givens said. “At this point, there may not be a lot that people can do other than voice their support for the program.”

Unless funds come through, BHEP will only continue through the end of October.

“With October being BHEP’s last month, we want to go out strong and provide our services to as many people as we can,” Givens said. “Residents should sign up their home now, learn everything they can about their energy and water usage and how they can have an efficient home in the future. Not many cities have free program such like BHEP, and residents should take advantage before it’s too late.”

Givens praised the role of BHEP, stating that it was unlike any program offered to high school students.

“BHEP really does provide lasting skills that students can use for future jobs, when applying to college and helping to narrow down a future career field,” she said. “It’s disappointing that future high school students will miss out on the opportunity to be involved with BHEP.”

For more information on how to sign up, visit BeniciaHomeEfficiency.org or call (800) 314-5997.