![\"kathy](\"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2024-01-25-Grid-Alternatives-SMUD-Ribbon-Cutting-Ceremony-7-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOn a quiet street in the suburbs of Sacramento, Kathy Bigler\u2019s home stands framed between several palm trees, granting the sun full access to its teal-lined roof. Multi-colored rock sculptures scatter the sides of the house, a lively contrast to the neutral tones of the Sacramento landscape and neighboring houses. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kathy\u2019s home is a well-loved space. Personal artwork and family photos are displayed across each wall, and the painted colors of each room add to the warmth of the atmosphere. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy home is the centerpiece of my family. It\u2019s where we celebrate everyone\u2019s birthdays,\u201d Kathy shared with pride.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, Kathy\u2019s husband passed away, leaving Kathy to inherit significant responsibilities, including home repairs. \u201cMy husband did everything around the house. When he passed, I felt like I didn\u2019t know anything<\/em>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n A solar energy system had been on their wish list for a long time but felt like an even more distant goal after Kathy found herself taking on all of the responsibilities that come with being a single homeowner. However, with rising living costs, she was determined to pursue any avenue that could bring potential savings on her monthly costs. Eventually, Kathy was connected to GRID Alternatives through the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD), and a partnership connecting GRID to 15 income-eligible homeowners for no-cost solar in the Sacramento area, featuring some of GRID\u2019s first-ever solar + battery systems. <\/p>\n In January, GRID completed the no-cost rooftop installation on Kathy\u2019s home, which featured a 7.315 kw-DC solar system, an EV charger, and a battery system. The combined triple-impact system is estimated to save Kathy over $1,000 annually, with an expected $24,265 in savings over the system’s lifetime. <\/p>\n Kathy is thrilled that her home has solar as of 2024, a long-term goal that was finally realized. She plans to put the savings she will gather from her utility bills towards other essentials, like her car payments, and free up capital that can be invested in her family. <\/p>\n As the climate crisis intensifies, bringing unpredictable weather patterns and natural disasters to many areas of the U.S., combined solar and battery systems are also crucial in establishing resiliency for homeowners in the event of outages.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what our mission is about: being able to provide our communities with resilience and energy savings. We are looking forward to expanding our battery storage program this year and by mid-2024 we are hoping to have 100% solar + battery projects. We look forward to continuing our partnership with SMUD so we can bring savings to even more communities in the coming years. This is the future of clean energy technology – the very start of the future.\u201d shared Achini Bandara, Co-Executive Director of North Valley. <\/p>\n GRID Alternatives is committed to an equitable transition to a world powered by renewable energy that benefits everyone and is proud to partner with SMUD on our solar + battery solutions. To see if you qualify for no-cost solar on your home, visit our single-family solar program on our website at gridalternatives.org. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kathy Bigler, a homeowner residing in Sacramento, was connected to GRID Alternatives through the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD) and the partnership connecting GRID to 15 income-eligible homeowners for no-cost solar in the Sacramento area, featuring some of GRID\u2019s first-ever solar + battery systems. Read more about Kathy’s experience and our solar + battery goals for this year. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[],"region":[],"series":[],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-7332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equity-community","content-type-news"],"acf":{"hero_media_type":"image","hero_media_image":null,"hero_media_url":"","hero_media_poster":null,"hero_video_play":"inline","related_stories":null,"pattern_override":null,"story_callouts":null,"media":null,"featured_blog_post":null,"featured_event":null,"pdf_download":null,"blockquote":null,"author":null,"notice":null,"social_embed":null,"contact_card":null,"meta_details":null,"faq":null,"table":null},"yoast_head":"\n![\"kathy](\"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Grid-Alternatives-Event-1-1024x683.jpg\")
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