Clean Energy Future on Display at World Ag Expo
Southern California Edison presents its vision of the benefits of electrification for farmers and homeowners alike.
For Southern California Edison’s business and residential customers in the agriculture-rich Central Valley, the future has arrived. That’s SCE's message at the World Ag Expo, the largest agriculture trade show bringing together more than 100,000 people from across the globe to learn about emerging trends and technologies in the farm industry and beyond.
SCE has been a sponsor and exhibitor at the expo in Tulare for more than 30 years. In addition to daily electric safety demonstrations by linemen, SCE is helping visitors visualize how to integrate clean energy into their daily lives.
“The World Ag Expo provides SCE an opportunity to continue to engage our agriculture and Central Valley customers with our programs and services to enable clean power solutions through electrification and related opportunities for increasing operational efficiencies and a cleaner energy future,” said Mike Bushey, director of SCE’s Business Customer Division.
Visitors to the SCE booth will find themselves walking into an imagined “smart home,” equipped with an induction cooktop, smart thermostat, electric heat pump water heater, a battery storage system and an EV parked in the garage. The smart home display simulates how residents can implement electric technology in their homes now and what it will be like in a decade or more. Switching to energy-efficient home systems can put people on a path to sustainability, leading to cost savings over time.
“Space and water heating systems are the two largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in residential buildings,” said Jose Buendia, senior manager of SCE’s Building Electrification Program Operations. “One of the benefits of electric appliances is that they can be programmed to operate during off-peak hours. This means customers can take advantage of our more favorable Time-of-Use rates, and those who install electric heat pumps can receive an additional electric baseline allowance on their monthly bill.”
Building electrification isn't simply a matter of adopting the most innovative technology, it’s about the resiliency that is critical to achieving the state's zero-carbon emissions goal of 2045. To get there, SCE's Pathway 2045 blueprint estimates that 30% of residential and commercial space and water heaters need to be electric by 2030 and 70% by 2045. With the first major milestone seven years away, California can no longer afford to delay decarbonization, and everyone's participation is needed now more than ever.
“Something's afoot — climate change is real, and we feel the impacts through wildfires, driven by high winds, and there’s more extreme weather everywhere,” Buendia said. “The state and many others have identified electrification as the most cost-effective way to mitigate the impacts of climate change. There are also many health benefits and opportunities for customers to save money as we move in this direction.”
For visitors to the World Ag Expo mulling how they can participate in electrification, or anyone interested in decarbonization, SCE's Energy Education Centers host free online classes. Together, Californians can power a clean energy future starting now.
To register for SCE’s online classes about the benefits of electrification, visit on.sce.com/electrification. Learn more about electric technologies and their benefits by visiting sce.com/cleanenergy.
