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As the San Francisco Bay Area’s council of governments, ABAG supports regional planning and cooperation among the 101 cities and nine counties that make up the region. Generally, this has meant research, planning and projects related to land use, housing, environmental and water resource protection, and disaster resilience.

What is perhaps not as well-known is that this broad portfolio of work also extends to energy and energy efficiency. Enter the Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN), a collaboration of the nine Bay Area counties led by ABAG that implements energy saving programs on a regional level. BayREN draws on the expertise of Bay Area local governments to (1) Promote healthy and efficient buildings, (2) Reduce carbon emissions, and (3) Build government capacity. 

Started in 2012 as a first-of-its-kind pilot program, BayREN is funded by California utility ratepayers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission, as well as through grants. One of only two Regional Energy Networks in the state, BayREN represents 20 percent of the state’s population. Read More