Los Angeles, CA; July 01, 2019 – Today, Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) is celebrating the upcoming launch of California’s Solar on Multifamily and Affordable Housing (SOMAH) program, the nation’s largest investment in low-income residential solar for renters, on July 1, 2019. The SOMAH program, with its focus on clean energy and reducing costs for hundreds of thousands of affordable housing residents, will provide rebates to affordable housing property owners in East Oakland and South East Los Angeles who install solar and provide clean energy and significant utility bill savings to tenants.
CBE was a leading advocate for the passage of legislation creating SOMAH and in helping shape the program to ensure maximum community benefit. Over 10 years, SOMAH will provide up to $100 million annually in financial incentives for solar on multifamily affordable housing in the state, ensuring equitable solar access to affordable housing tenants and creating clean energy job training opportunity in local communities.
“The SOMAH program is monumental because it contributes to a transition from fossil fuel energy dependence,” said Terez Sanogo, CBE SOMAH Outreach Coordinator. “It offers economic benefits, including job training and lower electricity bills, to those who have been on the frontlines of the struggle for sustainable energy solutions.”