BayREN Business Program
What is the BayREN Business Program?
BayREN Business is intended to serve small businesses that have been underserved by past energy efficiency programs. The measured savings approach is simple – aggregators earn incentives when customers save energy!
An aggregator is a participating vendor, contractor or program partner who works with customers to generate energy efficiency and/or demand savings projects. Aggregators manage interactions and relationships with the customer from project identification through customer project implementation. Energy savings are paid and measured through population level normalized metered energy consumption (Pop-NMEC).
Serving Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties.
Aggregators
If you are ready to become an enrolled aggregator, complete and submit the Participating Aggregator Agreement. If you were previously enrolled as an aggregator for the BayREN Business FLEXmarket program prior to 2025 you will need to re-enroll. Contact us with any questions at BayRENBusiness@franklinenergy.com.
If you are already enrolled as a BayREN Business aggregator, access the Enrolled Aggregator Portal below for Program tools and resources including the Praxis M&V Platform, the Customer Site Eligibility Tool (CSET), and project Value Estimator Tool (VET).
Customers
Are you a small, Bay Area business looking to invest in energy-efficient equipment and save money on your energy bills? Review the eligibility requirements below and contact an Enrolled Aggregator to start the process now! Aggregators can confirm Program eligibility and support you through the process step-by-step.
For general questions email BayRENBusiness@franklinenergy.com.
Customer Eligibility
All businesses must be located within one of the Bay Area Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, or Sonoma.
BayREN Business is intended to serve small businesses that have been underserved by past energy efficiency programs. Customers must meet geographic eligibility by being located in either a Disadvantaged Community (DAC) or a Low-Income Community (LIC). You may utilize the BayREN Commercial Eligibility Map to check for DAC and LIC designations, with the purple shaded areas showing all eligible areas combined.
If a customer does not meet the geographic eligibility, they can qualify by meeting the criteria for Hard-to-Reach (HTR). The following information is a guideline; the BayREN Business Team has final authority to determine customer and project eligibility.
If your customer falls into any of the following three categories, they meet the customer eligibility criteria and may be eligible for BayREN Business.
- Disadvantaged Community (DAC) – Customers located within the top 25% of the CalEnviroScreen 4.0 map. DAC customers appear specifically in the orange shaded areas of the BayREN Commercial Eligibility Map.
- Low-Income Community (LIC) – Census tracts that are either at or below 80% of the statewide median income, or at or below the threshold designated as low-income by the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) Revised 2021 State Income Limits. LIC customers appear specifically in the blue shaded areas of the BayREN Commercial Eligibility Map.
- Hard-to-Reach (HTR) – If the customer is not located within a DAC or LIC designated area, then they must be HTR in order to qualify for the Program. HTR status is determined by a collective score of at least 3 points from the list below. HTR-eligibility will be participant-certified for language, number of employees, facility, located on California (CA) Native American Tribe Territory and/or owned or operated by CA Native American Tribe member. HTR criteria are:
- (1 point) Language: Primary language spoken is other than English
- (1 point) Business Size: Less than or equal to 25 employees and/or classified as Very Small (customers whose annual electric demand is less than 20 kilowatt (kW), or whose annual gas consumption is less than 10,000 therms or both)
- (1 points) Facility: Leased or Rented Facilities–Investments in improvements to a facility rented or leased by a participating business customer
- (2 points) Geography: Business is located in Sonoma County
- (3 points) Located on CA Native American Tribe Territory
- (3 points) Owned or operated by CA Native American Tribe member
Project Eligibility
The following is a list of eligibility criteria for BayREN Business projects. Enrolled Aggregators will use the Customer Site Eligibility Tool (CSET) to check project eligibility. The following information is a guideline; the BayREN Business Team has final authority to determine both customer and project eligibility.
- Utility: Customers must receive electric distribution and/or natural gas services from PG&E.
- Data Availability: For any meters included in the project, will need 12 straight months of energy usage data.
- Project Type: Only commercial businesses allowed. Customer sites must be non-residential, non-government buildings, facilities, sites, places, and spaces occupied by organizations and entities whose purposes are to engage in professional and commercial activities. The Program does not accept home offices, agricultural, aviation, industrial, mining, sanitation, parking-only (lots and garages), storage facilities, or multifamily common areas.
- No On-Site Generation: Buildings with solar and/or battery storage are not allowed to participate.
- BayREN Influence: Project may not be currently enrolled in another ratepayer funded energy efficiency program. Projects or upgrades already underway are not eligible for incentives.
- Electric vehicle (EV) chargers: Project sites with EV chargers are allowed only when the EV chargers are separately metered.
- Site Energy Consumption Threshold: Accounts with annual energy use ≤150,000 kWh and ≤50,000 therms, based on the combined usage from all meters that serve the project site.
