Agricultural Working Poor Energy Efficient Housing Program.

Existing law establishes the Department of Community Services and Development and requires the department to administer, among other things, the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Existing law requires the department to develop and administer the Energy Efficiency Low-Income Weatherization Program and to expend moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of the program. This bill would require the department to develop and administer the Agricultural Working Poor Energy Efficient Housing Program and to expend moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of the program to improve energy efficiency in farmworker-owned housing. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature on the program with respect to balances and expenditures, households reached, demographics of the households reached, measures funded, and energy savings. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to supervise certain low-income targeted energy efficiency programs administered by electrical corporations, gas corporations, or 3rd-party administrators, and requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to undertake various activities and administer various programs to promote energy efficiency. This bill would require the department, in developing the Agricultural Working Poor Energy Efficient Housing Program, to consult with the PUC and the Energy Commission in order to ensure compatibility with the state's energy policies and goals and to avoid duplication of the energy efficiency programs supervised by those commissions.