Proposition 39: California Clean Energy Jobs Act, K-12 Program and Energy Conservation Assistance Act Program-Education Subaccount, School Bus Replacement Program: 2020-21 Progress Report

The California Clean Energy Jobs Act was created with the approval of Proposition 39 on November 12, 2012. Under this initiative, the Proposition 39 K-12 Program provided funding for energy efficiency retrofits and clean energy generation at school buildings within a local educational agency to increase energy use savings and energy cost savings. The California Energy Commission prepared this report for the Citizens Oversight Board in accordance with Senate Bill 73 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 29, Statutes of 2013). To alleviate the burden to local educational agencies, information required to be reported to the Citizens Oversight Board by local educational agencies is contained within this report. This is the last annual report required to be prepared for the Citizens Oversight Board and summarizes results from the start of the Proposition 39 K-12 Program (December 19, 2013) through the end of Fiscal Year 2020-21.

Due to negative effects of COVID-19 on the completion of energy projects, the California Energy Commission extended the deadline for project completion and final project reporting by one year to June 30, 2021, and September 30, 2022, respectively. By the end of Fiscal Year 2020-2021, the California Energy Commission approved a total of 2,095 energy expenditure plans from 1,727 local educational agencies, representing $1.52 billion in project funding. Of these energy expenditure plans; 1,504 projects are completed, and the completed project final reports approved; 64 projects are completed and under review; 173 projects are completed, with local educational agencies in the process of collecting 12 months of post-installation energy consumption data; 89 projects have not submitted a completion date; and 265 completed project final reports are overdue. The cumulative results of completed Proposition 39 K-12 projects reported to the California Energy Commission from program inception through Fiscal Year 2021-2021 includes; Savings to Investment Ratio of 1.30, for every $1.00 invested $1.30 in energy costs is saved; energy-use intensity decreased on average from 91.24 British thermal units per square foot before energy project installation to 79.76 British thermal units per square foot after energy project installation, resulting in energy use savings with an associated projected annual energy cost savings of $66.3 million.  

This report also summarizes the status of the Energy Conservation Assistance Act — Education Subaccount Program, the Bright Schools Program, and the School Bus Replacement Program. For Fiscal Years 2013–14 through 2020-21, the California Energy Commission approved 60 Energy Conservation Assistance Act — Education Subaccount Program loans totaling $82.1 million. During the same period, the Bright Schools Program provided $3.3 million in technical assistance to 173 local educational agencies and community colleges. The School Bus Replacement Program awarded $75.1 million for electric buses and $14.2 million for electric bus charging infrastructure.