California Center for Sustainable Energy

The South Orange County Energy Connection was an outreach program conducted by CCSE for SDG&E to engage and educate utility customers in the area about energy efficiency and reducing regional energy consumption by assisting in driving the development, both on supply side and demand side, of a sustainable market for energy efficiency, distributed generation and alternative fuel vehicles. The program ran from May through December 2012.

During the course of the program, six workshops and professional trainings were held covering a variety of topics: home performance & energy efficiency, solar for homeowners, solar for industry professionals, electric vehicles and green real estate. Programs and workshops were free and designed for all levels of expertise – from first-time homeowners to building professionals and city officials. Information about technologies and rebates was provided.

The program served the communities of San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Dana Point, South Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Eliso Viejo and Mission Viejo.

Highlights included:

• South Orange County Energy Connection was an advocate sponsor of The Ecology Center of San Juan Capistrano’s “Green Feast,” held September 8, 2012.

• Some 23 real estate professionals attended the Certified Green Real Estate Training, November 13-14, 2012, in Dana Point Community House.

• More than 60 attendees of “The Future is Electric:  Plug In and Get There” electric vehicle workshop, held on November 17, 2012, at the San Juan Capistrano Community Center.

The program developed and designed stakeholder specific educational and marketing materials, including:

• OC IDSM specific website.

• Email blasts to CCSE members, local government and professional/industry contacts in Orange County.

• Promotional fliers for specific workshops and overview of program, distributed to all local government facilities and to local commercial businesses.

• Placed a total of 33 ads in two different publications – Orange County Register and Orange County Business Journal. Ads ran between October 10 and December 3, 2012.