Petaluma Councilman Barnacle's 'Nonprofit' Alliance Co-Founder Acting as Lender for Affordable Housing Projects

Building Decarbonization Coalition & Rewiring America launched a residential electrification incentives alliance while partnered with developers & labor unions to transform American Housing

Petaluma Councilman Brian Barnacle is the Director of Strategy & Development for Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC). His ‘nonprofit’ co-founded an electrification incentive collective with several other organizations which are acting as lenders for affordable housing projects.

As of March 21, 2024, The Building Decarbonization Coalition published the following press release:

“SAN FRANCISCO — A new nonprofit alliance has formed with ambitions to build the most comprehensive and up-to-date open data repository of every residential electrification incentive program in the nation, with plans to make the resource open and accessible to all.

The National Open Data for Electrification (NODE) Collective was announced today by founding members from Eli Technologies, the Building Decarbonization Coalition, Rewiring America, RMI (founded as Rocky Mountain Institute) and the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center. Together, the group is sourcing, structuring and maintaining a comprehensive data set of incentives and rebates available to households, from highly efficient electric technologies like heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, induction cooktops and heat pump dryers to other building electrification solutions like battery storage, electric vehicle chargers, weatherization, and electric panel and wiring upgrades.

To address the fragmented incentive landscape, the NODE Collective will secure the most comprehensive data set of residential incentives, expecting to reach more than 2,000 incentives nationwide. The groups aim for widespread adoption of the data set so that consumers will find consistent, comprehensive data on incentives wherever they look.

The NODE Collective is committed to establishing the gold standard for tracking electrification incentives, guided by:

• Proactive Data Collection: creating dedicated submission channels to enable NODE to actively gather up-to-date and precise incentive data.

• Collaborative Updates: A network of stakeholders collaborating to maintain data accuracy and consistency, underpinned by structured protocols and expert review.

• Standardization of Incentive Data: By creating clear formats and guidelines, NODE Collective aims to eliminate inconsistencies, and facilitate streamlined access through publishing the data as a collective. The collective will also encourage and support rebate program administrators in standardizing and sharing rebate information to keep key program details up to date.

“Government-funded rebates, tax credits, and other purchasing incentives can be a key driver of consumer adoption of pollution-free technologies like heat pumps, yet navigating fragmented and outdated data can be a confusing and frustrating process,” said Andre Meurer, Head of Product at the Building Decarbonization Coalition. “That’s why we’re creating a comprehensive, reliable data source to ensure consumers and contractors can easily access all available incentives and rebates, reducing friction and confusion for households and market players alike.”

The NODE Collective is seeking additional members and funders to enrich the project, and all stakeholders—from local governments to large corporations—are invited to contribute and openly collaborate.

“With so many new incentives becoming available at the federal, state, local, and even individual utility levels today, there’s a need to work together to make this information easier to use,” said Autumn Proudlove, Associate Director for Policy and Markets at the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center. “The Center’s DSIRE project has a long history of making clean energy incentive data publicly accessible, and we’re excited to work with our NODE Collective partners to expand this impact by enabling the development of more consumer-facing tools with a standardized underlying data set.”

“This effort is essential to the project of accelerating the pace of residential electrification and we’re eager to recruit collaborators across governments, the private sector, and advocacy spaces to make this the very best data set for everyone,” said Tom Carden, Head of Engineering at Rewiring America. “This is about empowering homeowners and communities to improve their standard of living and save money by going electric.”

To keep the data set up to date, the collective will standardize the collection of incentive data, create a submission channel to gather up-to-date and precise incentive data and work with a network of stakeholders to maintain data accuracy.

“The urgency of the climate crisis requires choosing collaboration over competition when it offers the best chance to achieve our shared goals. That’s why we chose an open data collaborative model for NODE, to provide a bedrock upon which new solutions can be rapidly prototyped, iterated, and scaled,” said Jeff Coleman, CEO, Eli Technologies. “Ultimately the result of the collective’s work will be about more than just tracking incentives, it will foster informed consumer decisions and empower market actors to fully embrace the electric future.”

“The Inflation Reduction Act presents a pivotal moment to revamp accessibility to home energy efficiency and electrification incentives, ensuring the economic and quality of life benefits of home retrofits reach those most in need,” said Lacey Tan, building decarbonization expert at RMI. “RMI is proud to be a part of the NODE Collective and contribute to this valuable and comprehensive data set of incentives and rebates.”

Learn more about the NODE Collective and how to get involved at NODEcollective.org.”

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Rewiring America is a brand new non-profit which became established with the IRS as of August 10, 2023.

Per their website:

Rewiring America is the leading electrification nonprofit, focused on electrifying our homes, communities, and businesses. We develop accessible data and tools and build coalitions and partnerships to make going electric easier for households and communities. Rewiring America helps Americans save money, tackle nationwide emissions goals, improve health, and build the next generation of the clean energy workforce.

A few months ago, Rewiring America shared the following LinkedIn post:

Rewiring America is honored to share that Power Forward Communities, a new coalition of which we are a member, has been awarded a $2 billion, seven-year National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Through our partnership with some of the country’s most trusted housing, climate, and community investment groups, including Habitat for Humanity International, Enterprise Community Partners, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and United Way, we’re purpose-built to help transform the housing sector, save homeowners and renters money, invest in stronger communities, and meet national climate goals.

Through the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF), Power Forward Communities will provide financing to homeowners and apartment building owners across the country to upgrade appliances, weatherize homes, and make them more efficient and less expensive to operate. For local and state governments, Power Forward Communities will leverage public and private investments to help government partners achieve affordable housing and clean energy ambitions, and for investors, Power Forward Communities will create new opportunities to deploy sustainable capital for measurable and lasting impact on families, homes, communities, and the climate.

The Power Forward Communities webpage states the campaign is:

Focusing on housing in low-income and disadvantaged communities is a way to meet our goals and expand our impact, adding good-paying local jobs, saving on energy costs for households and improving health outcomes.

Partners include the following developers & labor unions:

Aclaria Partners • Aeon • AFL-CIO-HIT • Alpha Sharp Development Partners • APAH • April Housing • Archway Communities • Arrow Street Development • Asian Americans for Equality, Inc. • Atlanta Land Trust, Inc. • Banneker Ventures, LLC • BDP Impact Real Estate • Black & White Investments • Bridge Housing • Brisa Builders Development LLC • CAMBA, Inc. • Camber • Civic Builders • Columbia Ventures • Communities First, Inc. Household • Community Housing Works • CRP Affordable Housing & Community Development • CSI Support & Development Services • Dabar Development Partners, LLC • Dallas City Homes • East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation • Enterprise Community Partners • Exodus Development • Good Leap • Gorman & Company, LLC • Gragg Cardona Partners LLC • Green Coast Enterprises • Green Coast Enterprises • Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center LDC • Gulf Coast Housing Partnership • HRI Communities • Jonathan Rose Companies • LandSpire Group • Laurel Street Residential • Lemle & Wolff, Inc. • Manna • McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc. • Mercy Housing • MidPen Housing • Neighborhood Development Company • New Orleans Restoration Properties, Inc • Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures, LLC • NYCHA • O-SDA Industries • Petra • Red Gate Properties • RJ Development + Advisors • Roofstock • Seattle YMCA • Seawall Development Company, LLC • Second Chance Center, Inc. • SGA • SGI ventures • Sisters of Charity Housing Development Corporation • Southeast Effective Development • St. Nicks Alliance • Standard Real Estate Investments • The Fortune Society, Inc. • The Model Group, Inc. • Urban Campus and Core • Victory Housing • Wishcamper Development Partners LLC

• American Federation of Teachers • International Union of Painters and Allied Trades • SMART, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers

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As one of the partners to Power Forward Communities, MidPen Housing is currently developing affordable housing projects within the City of Petaluma.

On March 5, 2024, The Petaluma Argus-Courier shared the following article:

The city of Petaluma was awarded a pro-housing designation earlier this year – a “coveted” distinction for its efforts to encourage housing development for all income levels – which comes with certain state funding incentives as well.

Although the recognition from the California Department of Housing and Community Development came in late January, its context is an ongoing “housing crisis” that is “decades in the making” as the state works toward a goal of building 2.5 million new homes by 2030, the state department said in a news release.

“This designation comes with funding incentives and additional resources to help speed housing production,” the release noted.

Petaluma is one of 37 communities to receive this designation from Gov. Gavin Newsom through California’s Prohousing Designation Program, which rewards jurisdictions that have made it easier to create additional housing whether through reduced development and construction costs or through its housing policies.

The Prohousing Designation Program was established by the 2019-20 Budget Act, which also established a package of “supports, incentives and accountability measures” related to housing production.

Incentives include “exclusive access” to grants, extra points in competitive housing scoring, community development, and infrastructure funding programs administered by the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

Petaluma received its designation by reducing fees for most affordable housing projects, directing certain fees to a trust fund for development and preservation of low-income housing, adopting permit-ready accessory dwelling unit plans, and adopting universal design standards. The city has been able to accommodate 244 percent of the current housing allocation requirement.

Mr. Barnacle has personally promoted the 414 Petaluma Blvd. N. location on his Facebook Page.

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As Councilman Barnacle persuades City Council to electrify everything, is he financially benefitting from these endeavors?

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

-Matthew 6:24