SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Oct. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Electriq Power, Inc. (“Electriq”), a leading provider of intelligent and integrated home energy storage solutions, announces it has signed an agreement with the City of Santa Barbara to launch the Santa Barbara Home Power Program, which will deliver affordable, sustainable and resilient energy to Santa Barbara County residents through fully financed residential solar microgrids. Electriq’s industry-leading energy storage solution, the PowerPod 2, will be the intelligent home battery used by the program.

Through the program’s City-vetted Power Purchase Agreement, Santa Barbara County homeowners, regardless of means, will have access to Electriq’s smart home energy storage system, which is recharged by the included solar power system. The system will help achieve the program’s key goal of offsetting 100% of each home’s electricity consumption, providing immediate savings over annual utility costs.

“At Santa Barbara Clean Energy, we are looking to improve local resilience by building local energy generation and storage. The Santa Barbara Home Power Program allows local residents to do just that, while also gaining peace of mind against potential grid outages and rising prices,” said Alelia Parenteau, Acting Sustainability & Resilience Director, City of Santa Barbara, Sustainability & Resilience.

The program is rooted in Electriq’s mission to maximize inclusion in the clean energy transition, regardless of socio-economics. In keeping with this mission, the usual financial barriers blocking low-to-moderate income communities’ access to clean energy financing options, such as credit checks and property liens, are removed from the process. The program also seeks to provide the same access to clean energy options for renters.

The intelligence and networking features built into the PowerPod 2 enable users to avoid peak pricing spikes and benefit from resilience in the event of Public Safety Power Shutoffs, as well as support the region’s vulnerable electrical infrastructure. Conventional solar power systems without storage do not function during blackouts and add stress to the grid. When deployed across the entire county, the future fleet of solar + storage microgrids will enable a more evolved grid to emerge as electrification and Distributed Energy Resource (DER) deployments accelerate, while providing assets that can be utilized for decades.

“We are pleased to have this opportunity to provide every Santa Barbara County homeowner, at any income level, with our sustainable and resilient energy solution,” said Frank Magnotti, CEO of Electriq Power. “At Electriq Power, we believe that access to clean, dependable energy should not be limited due to financial constraints. Rather, it should be available to anyone who needs it and sees its value in both saving money and contributing to a greener environment. We look forward to supporting similar clean energy community access programs in the future.”