Pamela West

Pamela West has lived in Long Beach for 52 years. Her solar system was installed at no cost through the Disadvantaged Communities Single-Family Solar Homes program (DAC-SASH), which GRID Alternatives administers for income-qualified homeowners in designated disadvantaged communities. Before going solar, Pamela’s monthly electric bills often ran between $200 and $300. “It was scary,” she said. “It was almost matching my car insurance bill.”

Her first bill after the system went live told a different story: just $8.24. “Oh, man, I was so happy to pay that bill,” Pamela said. “I thought it was like a dream. It was something I needed to do a long time ago.” She’d looked into solar before connecting with GRID, but quotes from other companies raised concerns for her family about the ownership of her home. “I was glad to find that it didn’t compromise the ownership of the house or anything like that,” she said.

On June 27, 2026, Pamela opened her home to neighbors and GRID Alternatives Southern California staff for an open house built around her story — and her bill. GRID’s Outreach team canvassed the surrounding neighborhood that morning, and Pamela spent the days beforehand personally inviting friends and neighbors herself. About 20 people came, many of them neighbors she’s known for two or three decades. “It brings me joy to see that my neighbors are going to have the same savings as I am,” she said.

The open house is already paying off: four attendees are now moving through GRID’s solar approval process. Applicants connected to the event qualify under GRID’s expanded Referral Rewards Program, which pays Pamela $500 for each qualifying referral who completes an install through the end of August 2026. For Pamela, the impact goes beyond dollar figures. “It’s an opportunity to expand the mind and think about something else besides that high energy bill that I had,” she said.