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2.22.22 Harris County Long-Term Recovery Committee Powered for Good Application and Information Sheet
The Harris County Long-Term Recovery Committee (HCLTRC) is excited to partner with Powered for Good to provide a valuable resource to Harris County, including the City of Houston, residents who are suffering with a critical or serious illness that require continuous electrical power. Through this partnership, agencies can apply to receive Generak Home Power battery packs to distribute to residents in the event of long-term power outages. The model is based on a lending library and residents must reside in Harris County. Your agency would be responsible for storing, distributing, and collecting the battery packs from residents once done. If your agency is interested in this opportunity, please review all information carefully and complete the below application in its entirety by February 28, 2022.
For additional information, click on the links below:
Use Your Micro Solar+Storage | Tableau Public
If you have additional questions about the application process, please email Mary Vazquez, United Way of Greater Houston, at MVazquez@unitedwayhouston.org.
If you have questions about the battery packs, please email Gavin Dillingham, HARC, at gdillingham@harcresearch.org.
2.2.22 Go Green, Save Green Energy Guide and other online tools will help Texans save money on residential energy costs
Houston, TX (February 1, 2022) Powered for Good, an online platform that enables greater access to renewable energy sources, announces a new suite of tools and fact sheets to help consumers better understand their bills and assess the opportunities for switching to renewable energy. Consumers will be able to “Go Green” and “Save Green!“
In Texas, state regulations allow millions of people to select their electricity provider. Although costs of solar and wind power are at record lows and continue to decline, Texans with lower incomes often pay more for electricity and have limited access to green energy and emergency backup power.
At www.poweredforgood.org, the Electricity Bill Analysis Toolbox can help consumers analyze their electric bills and understand if they may be paying too much for electricity. The bill analysis tool will also allow consumers the option to compare types of electricity plans and confirm that their current plan is meeting their needs.
In addition, the “Go Green, Save Green” provides a step-by-step guide that will help you understand how you can save money with a renewable energy product and be better prepared for the next energy crisis or natural disaster.
“Powered for Good is enabling Texans who select their own power provider the opportunity to save money on their electricity bill while using 100% clean electricity,” states Dr. Margaret Cook, Research Associate at the Houston Advanced Research Center, and project manager on the Powered for Good project. “This project provides a simple solution to help consumers become more knowledgeable about their energy consumption and reduce it – it’s a win-win.”
The “Go Green, Save Green” tool helps consumers to be their household’s energy expert, learn more about solar power and batter storage, and how to save more money by reducing energy consumption. Visit www.poweredforgood.org to learn more.
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About Powered for Good
The goal of Powered for Good is to design and help deliver clean, affordable, 100% renewable electricity offerings for low-income households in Texas's Competitive Retail Areas, where households can choose their electricity provider. Learn more at www.poweredforgood.org.
2.2.22 Opciones ecológicas y ahorro: Guía de energía residencial de Texas y otras herramientas en línea ayudarán a los residentes de Texas a ahorrar en sus costes energéticos
La herramienta online “Energía Para el Bien” ayuda a los consumidores a ahorrar mediante el uso de energías renovables, y a estar más informado sobre los servicios energéticos disponibles
Houston, TX (1 de febrero de 2022) Energía Para el Bien, la plataforma online que mejora el acceso a los recursos de energía renovables, anuncia un nuevo conjunto de herramientas y fichas informativas para ayudar a los consumidores a entender mejor sus facturas eléctricas y evaluar sus oportunidades de incorporar energía renovable. Los consumidores podran mejorar su sostenibilidad con opciones ecológicas y ahorro.
La regulación estatal vigente permite a millones de habitantes de Texas elegir su proveedor de electricidad. A pesar de que el coste de las energías eólica y solar están en mínimos históricos y continúan bajando, la mayoría de las familias tejanas con ingresos bajos pagan más por su electricidad y tiene un acceso limitado a la energía limpia y a los sistemas eléctricos de emergencia.
La herramienta de análisis de facturas de electricidad de www.poweredforgood.org puede ayudar a los consumidores a analizar sus facturas eléctricas y entender si estarían pagando demasiado. Esta herramienta también brindara a los consumidores la opción de comparar planes de electricidad y confirmar si su plan actual satisface sus necesidades.
Además, “Opciones ecológicas y ahorro” ofrece una guía paso a paso que le ayudará a comprender cómo puede ahorrar dinero con un producto de energía renovable y estar mejor preparado para la próxima crisis energética o desastre natural.
"Energía Para el Bien” permite a los habitantes de Texas que seleccionan su propio proveedor de electricidad ahorrar dinero en su facture mientras usan energía 100% limpia," afirma la Dra. Margaret Cook, investigadora asociada en el Centro de Investigación Avanzada de Houston y responsable del proyecto Energía Para el Bien. "Este proyecto proporciona una solución simple para ayudar a los consumidores a conocer mejor y reducir su consumo energético: una solución beneficiosa para todos."
La herramienta " Opciones ecológicas y ahorro " ayuda a los consumidores residenciales a convertirse en los expertos en energía de su hogar, aprender más sobre la energía solar, su almacenamiento en baterías, y cómo ahorrar más reduciendo el consumo de energía. Visite www.poweredforgood.org para obtener más información.
Acerca de Energía Para el Bien
El objetivo de Energía Para el Bien es diseñar y ayudar a brindar electricidad limpia, asequible y 100% renovable para hogares de bajos ingresos ubicados en las áreas de suministro eléctrico competitivo de Texas, donde los usuarios pueden elegir su proveedor de electricidad. Obtenga más información en www.poweredforgood.org.
8.24.21 Energy Well Texas on Marketplace
Energy Well Texas, the start-up Retail Electric Provider formed using research from Powered for Good, was featured on Marketplace. The article and recording include interviews from pilot participants.
Start-up aims to help Texans lower their bills with renewables
Antonio Martinez has lived in Houston’s Gulfton neighborhood for the past 25 years. Like many Houstonians, he dreads the summer spikes in his electricity bills. “Electricity is always a concern, especially in the heat,” said Martinez, who teaches English as a second language.
So, Martinez started researching solutions. He participated in a local heat-mapping project and talked to his landlord about making the building more energy efficient. At one point, he decided to turn off his apartment’s central air conditioning. “I actually bought a window unit to save money,” he said, adding that it’s much cheaper just to cool the area where he sleeps rather than the whole apartment.
So Martinez was interested when a fledgling company called Energy Well Texas reached out about a pilot program. Its pitch? Save money on your electric bill while switching to a 100% renewable plan.
Read more on Marketplace.
BLOGS and PODCASTS
4.11.2022 Blog - Helping the Houston Area Get Powered for Good
Last year, we piloted Energy Well Texas, a renewable retail electricity provider. Pilot participants received low-cost renewable energy and micro-solar+storage units—assets that were very helpful during the power outages caused by Winter Storm Uri. Energy Well Texas aims to be a community-owned product and is on its way to becoming a retail electric product available to all Texans. The Powered for Good team also produced energy education materials for residents to understand their energy bill and access other renewable energy solutions. With this initial momentum, the Powered for Good team has continued to push for increased access to solar+storage throughout the Houston area...
10.26.2021 Blog - Powered for Good: Increasing Access to Solar+Storage Products for Low-Income Residents of Texas
Affordable, clean energy will be a driving force in our transition to a low carbon future. We already have many ways to get clean energy in our homes from our roofs to shared solar to our energy bills. Millions of Texans in the state’s competitive electricity market choose their own power provider, and today have multiple choices to get 100% clean energy from their provider to their homes without any extra work. However, the structure of the competitive electric market today means that low-income Texans often pay unnecessarily high energy costs for no added benefit. Read more...
4.15.2021 Blog - Getting Solar+Storage to Scale: How affordable, clean, and resilient energy solutions are being made more accessible in Texas
Emerging technologies such as solar+storage (S+S) systems allow utilities and their customers to generate, consume, and store their own solar energy that can be used later when the sun doesn’t shine or for resilience in the event of power outages. Even with prices for renewables and S+S systems continuing to come down, we still see a lack of access to capital to acquire this technology, especially for low income communities. Read more...
3.26.2021 Energy Crossroads Podcast, Featuring Greg Rosen
There is never a dull day in the energy markets! This discussion explores the need to scale up renewable finance strategies to correspond to the increase in private financing for clean energy, such as wind and solar, and energy efficiency projects. Listen below...