Cedar Fire rebuilds no longer
encouraged to be green

By Noelle Collins
The Alpine Sun

     ALPINE — Just four years after the Cedar Fire, the Rebuild a Greener San Diego program is coming to an end. Its purpose has been to offer rebates and tax credits to 2003 fire victims who rebuild their houses to be energy efficient or include solar-powered photovoltaic (PV) systems.
     After two deadline extensions, the program has now set a final deadline requiring homes to be rebuilt, receive final inspection and approval, and have their solar panels installed and connected to SDG&E by Sept. 30, but several homeowners won’t be able to meet the deadline and want the program to be extended further.
     For Jonathan Alvarado’s family in Crest, they’ve spent a significant amount of time negotiating with their insurance company and are now working with their third architect to redesign their home. They’ve specifically designed their 2,800 square foot house to include a rear porch to accommodate the solar panels, but they’re just beginning the permitting process and won’t have the house built before the solar rebate expires.

     The solar incentive under the Rebuild program pays $4. per watt, compared to the new State of California program that offers a rebate of only $2.50 per watt. The maximum Rebuild rebate is $20,000 and the average rebate for Cedar Fire victims has been $16,671, roughly half of the solar PV system expense. Fire victims interviewed for this story are taking advantage of the Rebuild program, “because installing solar is the right thing to do and a significant portion of the expense is covered up-front.”
     Carlynne Albee’s family in Flynn Springs has experienced similar delays to the Alvarados. Their negotiation process began with FEMA and the SBA over their first year of living expenses, continued with their insurance company who significantly underpaid their claim, and now involves a series of conversations with the county, that is requiring fire victims to rebuild their homes to be “fire-proof.”
     The Albees are installing steel beams and have endured a lengthy list of corrections required for their building permit, which they still do not have. By the time their house is rebuilt, which could be a couple more months, the solar incentive program will have expired. Whether they are able to take advantage of the rebuild rebate program is, for them, a deal-breaker. The added expense of installing solar without the rebate is simply too much.
     The rebuild program has been a partnership between the City of San Diego, County of San Diego, SDG&E and the San Diego Regional Energy Office (which has now become the California Center for Sustainable Energy) and is especially attractive because it pays the solar contractor directly. Other rebate programs require homeowners to pay the expense up front and then be reimbursed later.
     According to Benjamin Airth from California Center for Sustainable Energy, “the rebuild program has provided $1.9 million in rebates to date and completed 127 projects. There were originally 212 projects approved for participation in the program, 39 homeowners have withdrawn their applications, and 46 are still in progress.”
     “This has been a magnificent program,” said Ingrid Coffin, owner of Blue Sky Ranch in Lakeside.
     Before the Fire, Ingrid had four residences on her property, a 1,400-tree orchard, and an organic herb garden. She has been able to rebuild only one of the houses and the orchard now has 800 trees.
     Ingrid has been able to replace all five electric systems through the Rebuild solar incentive program. All of the systems are ground mounted and are responsible for keeping the wells functioning and otherwise providing electricity to the Ranch. The approval and installation process took about a year, with the final solar PV system installed in December 2006.
     “It’s been a learning process, to learn to keep the panels clean and the trees pruned, and we monitor our (electric) usage every Sunday,” Ingrid said. On average, Blue Sky’s benefit from switching to solar has been approximately $200 a month.
     Saving on energy costs isn’t the only benefit. With the current mainstream shift toward building energy efficient homes, solar panels improve property values. Under the rebuild program, fire victims will recover their up-front costs in about 10 years. Without the program, it takes at least 15 years to recover the cost of the system.
     In addition to the rebate, the homeowner is provided a 30 percent federal tax credit, capped at $2,000, for systems placed in service between Jan. 31, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2007. This program is above and beyond the standard California statewide solar PV rebate and tax credit. The standard State tax credit is 7.5 percent. The Rebuild program provides approximately 30 percent more value for 2003 Fire victims.
     In addition to the rebate and tax credit, Benjamin Airth says, “we’ve also tried to bring the cost down by working with preferred dealers or installers who provide a discount.”
     David and Kathy Kassel are another success story for the rebuild solar incentive program. They made sure to hire the right architect and solar contractor who included the solar panel designs in their building plans. The Kassels were fortunate in that they did not have to wait for their insurance company. They began the rebuilding process and dealt with their insurance company at the same time. They were able to rebuild early in the process, which allowed them to take advantage of the rebuild solar rebate program well before it expired.
     Knowing what to expect from the rebuilding process, David had a realistic view of the timeline. Because of this, he started the Cedar Fire Rebuilding Resource Group (CFRRG) to help bring fire victims together to work through the process. They’ve met once a week, every week since the Fire.
     The group continues to meet to share their stories and help one another. Every year, on the anniversary of the fire, the group takes a driving tour together to look at what’s been rebuilt. “That,” they say, “is the best feeling.”
     The Williams and Olsen families, who are part of the CFRRG, have recently passed their final inspection and are able to move back into their homes. After nearly four years of working through the rebuilding process, they will just barely meet the rebuild solar rebate deadline set for Sept. 30.

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