BayREN’s New Integrated Energy Services Program Supports Local Governments in Achieving Energy and Resilience Goals

In December 2024, BayREN launched its new Integrated Energy Services (IES) program designed to help local governments and special districts across the nine Bay Area counties meet their energy, resilience, and climate goals. With the region facing unprecedented environmental challenges, this new program offers essential support for municipalities looking to create sustainable, energy-efficient, and resilient public buildings.
Addressing Key Challenges with Tailored Solutions
As part of its 2024-2031 Business Plan development, BayREN conducted 15 listening sessions with various stakeholders including city and county staff that work on energy and climate issues. These conversations revealed several barriers to advancing energy efficiency and building decarbonization. Some of the primary challenges identified were limited staff capacity, a lack of specialized expertise, and low awareness of available energy programs and the benefits provided by energy upgrades. BayREN took these insights into account to design the new IES program, ensuring that it provides practical, hands-on support for local governments as they work to overcome these hurdles.
Two Core Services for Local Governments
The IES program offers two distinct services: Energy Concierge and Energy Roadmapping—both tailored to meet the unique needs of local governments.
The Energy Concierge service provides local government staff with a dedicated energy expert at their fingertips. Acting as a single and objective point of contact, this service helps local government staff easily access technical assistance, financing, and incentive programs for energy and resilience upgrades of their public buildings.
Participating jurisdictions receive tailored recommendations aligned with their specific needs and goals, connecting them to the right regional, state, and federal programs. Whether it’s program referrals or assistance with applications—including guidance on complex incentive stacking—the Energy Concierge is designed to streamline the process, saving staff time and effort. “We sought advice on operating battery energy storage systems in resilience hubs, a new area for the City, and received a prompt response with numerous resources and connections to experts," shares Nick Kordesch, Energy Program Manager for the City of Oakland.
Monthly office hours provide additional support, giving local government staff the opportunity to ask questions and get expert guidance on their public building projects. “The Energy Concierge team centralized information on all of the applicable incentives in one place, and they were great at tailoring information to Mountain View’s specific energy and electrification goals,” shares Denise Lin, Sustainability Analyst for the City of Mountain View.
The IES program also provides Energy Roadmapping services to local governments with expert engineering and technical support to create a customized energy roadmap for their public buildings or Community Resilience Centers (also known as resilience hubs). As part of the service, a comprehensive energy audit is conducted to evaluate current energy usage and identify potential improvements. The roadmap guides jurisdictions through energy-saving measures, electrification options, and strategies to enhance building resilience.
The roadmap not only outlines a cost-effective, phased plan for energy system improvements—including energy efficiency upgrades, electrification, fleet EV charging, solar PV, battery storage, and more—but also helps local governments determine the best strategies for each unique facility.
Participating staff will be paired with a dedicated project manager who will assist them through every step in the roadmapping process and provide ongoing support as staff begin to implement the recommendations in the roadmap. As expressed by Adam Scarbrough, Sustainability Planner for Contra Costa County, “local governments and special districts in Contra Costa County—and the greater San Francisco Bay Area—will be empowered to develop actionable plans for energy efficiency and resilience, tailored to their specific goals and needs.”
Get Started Today
To learn more about BayREN’s IES program including the eligibility criteria, visit BayREN’s Public Buildings page.
Already have a roadmap in place? Apply to participate in BayREN’s Decarbonization Showcase to receive ongoing technical and engineering support at no cost for project implementation.