18 UTILITY RATES FORECASTS
Initial investments are weighed against the discounted net present value of the operational and energy costs for a future period. The discounted net present value is heavily dependent on the price forecasts for each energy source, be it electricity, natural gas, diesel, or gasoline. Electricity and natural gas are provided by regulated utilities for which underlying future costs can be well understood and the forecasts can be made with a fair amount of certainty.
SCE is the distribution utility for electricity in the City, and it also provides generation services to most customers in the City. Southern California Gas is the natural gas utility for the City’s residents. The benefits of energy efficiency climate actions include the current and forecasted electricity rates for SCE service and natural gas rates for SCG.
SOLAR POWER AND MICROGRID COSTS
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory prepared analyses of individual household and community microgrids which are used to calculate distributed energy resources (DER) average costs for residential and community-scale deployments.41 These include the installation costs after applicable tax credits as of 2021 and are translated to annualized cents per kilowatt-hour for comparison to the alternatives.
BUILDING ELECTRIFICATION AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Studies prepared by California Energy Codes and Standards calculated changes in customer costs for Reach Code standards for new and existing residential and non-residential construction.42 The cases used in the CAAP analysis are all-electric efficiency and mixed fuel efficiency.
41 Vignesh Ramasamy, et al, U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System and Energy Storage Cost Benchmarks: Q1 2021, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Technical Report NREL/TP-7A40-80694, https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy22osti/80694.pdf, November 2021; and Vignesh Ramasamy, et al, U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System and Energy Storage Cost Benchmarks: Q1 2020, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Technical Report NREL/TP- 6A20-77324, https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77324.pdf, January 2021. 42California Energy Codes and Standards. (2026). “Cost-Effectiveness Explorer: Results for City of Costa Mesa.” Updated 2025. https://explorer.localenergycodes.com/jurisdiction/costa-mesa-city/study-results/6- SCE?only_study_type=existing-buildings&exclude_study_ids=48,25,22,19,1,27,54,49,46,45,43,38,2,33 and https://explorer.localenergycodes.com/jurisdiction/costa-mesa-city/study-results/6-SCE?only_study_type=new- buildings&exclude_study_ids=48,25,22,19,1,27,54,49,46,45,43,38,2,33. -360-
19 VALUATION OF EXTERNALITIES
Social Cost of Carbon
The social cost of carbon is a metric used by the US EPA and other federal agencies to estimate the value to society of greenhouse gas emissions reductions based on the impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity, human health, and flood risk.43 It is a dollar-based assessment of the negative impact that carbon dioxide emissions have in a given year. Conversely, it represents the benefit of avoided damages from an incremental reduction in carbon dioxide. This study relies on values developed by the EPA for 2030 through 2050, under their 3% average discount rate scenario, representing a mid-range value of the impact.44 The social cost of carbon value used in this analysis is $72 per ton in 2030 and $94 in 2045, in 2022 dollars.
43 Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases, United States Government. Technical Support Document: Social Cost of Carbon, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide Interim Estimates under Executive Order 13990.
February 2021. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2021/02/TechnicalSupportDocument_SocialCostofCarbonMethaneNitrousOxide.pdf 44 US EPA. (2017). The Social Cost of Carbon, US EPA. United States Environmental Protection Agency. https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climatechange/social-cost-carbon_.html; and Executive Order 12866 (May 2013, Revised August 2016).
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Costa Mesa
Environmental Funding
Landscape
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M.Cubed
June 8, 2026
INTRODUCTION
This funding scan identifies potential grants, incentives, rebates, financing tools, and technical assistance programs that may support environmental projects in Costa Mesa. The accompanying Costa Mesa Grants Excel workbook is intended as a working inventory, not a final application plan. It screens programs by administering agency, government level, action area, and notes on the nature of each opportunity.
The grant landscape is fragmented. Funding is spread across state agencies, regional planning bodies, utilities, air districts, water agencies, transportation agencies, federal pass-through programs, and more.
Many programs are not traditional grants. Some are rebates, tax credits, loan programs, technical assistance resources, utility incentives, or regulatory mechanisms.
A key constraint is timing. This scan assumes Costa Mesa would need at least six months, and likely more, to identify a project concept and submit a competitive application. Programs with near-term deadlines should generally be treated as monitoring items unless a project is already mature. The Excel file uses this lens to distinguish between active opportunities, future-cycle monitoring items, and programs that are not a good fit.
Funding Landscape
California maintains substantial environmental related funding for buildings, ecosystems, energy finance, housing, resilience, technical assistance, waste, water, and workforce development. Regional agencies are especially important for Costa Mesa. Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), Southern California Regional Energy Network (SoCalREN), Southern California Edison (SCE), Southern California Gas (SoCalGas), Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWDSC), and regional water agencies are closer to the city’s implementation needs and may provide more practical pathways for financial assistance. Utility and ratepayer-funded programs also remain important California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)-regulated programs, SCE, SoCalGas, and SoCalREN can provide incentives even though they are not traditional grants. State funding sources come from the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) that administers proceeds to from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, California Air Resources Board (CARB), California Energy Commission (CEC) and the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program (ICARP) administered by the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation that receive appropriations from the State Legislature, and the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I Bank) run by the State Treasurer, and the 2024 Proposition 4 Climate Bond.
Federal funding should be treated with caution. Much of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law money, authorized in 2021, has already moved through funding rounds. Inflation Reduction Act funding, authorized in 2022, also has been largely expended and further allotments are questionable with the change of administration. Some IRA programs are legally uncertain, some have accelerated deadlines, -363-
3 and some expected downstream financing pathways have not fully materialized. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund within the IRA is especially unlikely for future Costa Mesa planning because it is politically and legally contested and probably not likely to function as a simple, reliable municipal grant source.
This uncertainty is broader than climate funding. The Trump administration has pursued a more centralized federal grantmaking approach, including proposed rules that would require discretionary grants to advance presidential policy priorities and give political appointees greater authority over grant approval.
For Costa Mesa, federal opportunities should not be ignored, but they should be screened conservatively. Programs are most useful when funding is already awarded, formula-based, contractually obligated, administered through a state or regional agency, or part of a long-running program with a clear implementation pathway. For forward-looking planning, Costa Mesa should prioritize recurring California programs, regional funding sources, utility incentives, and established local implementation partners over uncertain future federal discretionary grants.
HOW TO USE THE COSTA MESA GRANTS WORKBOOK
The Excel workbook is organized as a first-pass funding inventory. Each row identifies a program or funding pathway, the administering agency, the government level, a simplified action area, and notes on the specific opportunity. The intent is to help Costa Mesa staff or consultants quickly filter potential opportunities by project type.
The workbook should be used in three ways. First, it can support early project matching. When Costa Mesa is considering a new project, the workbook can identify agencies and programs that may be worth checking. Second, it can serve as a monitoring tool. Some programs are relevant but not currently open, have uncertain future rounds, or have deadlines that are too soon. These should not be treated as immediate opportunities, but they may justify future tracking. Third, it can help remove poor-fit programs. Programs that are geographically ineligible, too tribal- or agriculture-specific, recreation- focused, expired, or not meaningfully environmental should be deleted or deprioritized. The goal is not to list every possible funding source but to maintain a focused list of realistic environmental funding pathways for Costa Mesa.
Key Monitoring Sources
Because individual grant deadlines change frequently, the most useful long-term tool is a short list of agency-wide grant portals. These portals should be checked periodically for new rounds, especially when Costa Mesa has a project concept that needs funding.
Table 1: Grant Monitoring Table
Agency Website Notes
Caltrans Local Assistance Caltrans' Local Assistance Program oversees more than one billion dollars annually available to over 600 cities, counties and regional agencies for the purpose of improving their transportation infrastructure or providing transportation services.
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4 Agency Website Notes
CARB CARB Funding
Opportunities
Includes CARB funding opportunities for clean transportation, air quality, climate, freight, and community-scale decarbonization programs.
CEC CEC Solicitations Includes most CEC funding opportunities across energy, buildings, EVs, transportation, and energy research.
CPUC Financial
Assistance,
Savings, and
Discounts
Includes utility bill assistance, rebates, appliance incentives, low- income programs, and customer energy savings resources.
I Bank Financing
Options
IBank’s lending products enable organizations to access the low- cost capital they need for their climate solutions.
ICARP Grant Programs The ICARP Grant Programs provide funding to help fill local, regional, and tribal adaptation planning and resilience needs, provide resources, and support the development of a pipeline of climate resilient projects.
OCTA OCTA Funding
Programs
Includes OCTA transportation, active transportation, and Measure M funding programs and calls for projects.
Prop 4 Climate Bond
Programs
The 2024 Climate Bond invests $10 billion in local projects that enhance the environment. About 40% of funds remain uncommitted.
SCAG SCAG Grant
Opportunities
Includes regional grant opportunities relevant to Southern California local governments, transportation, planning, housing, and sustainability projects.
SCAQMD Grants & Bids Includes incentive programs, grant opportunities, and technology funding focused on air quality and emissions reductions.
SCE SCE Rebates &
Financial
Assistance
Includes SCE rebates, financial assistance, electrification incentives, and customer energy-saving programs.
SGC SGC Grant
Programs
Includes climate resilience, affordable housing, community development, and sustainable infrastructure grant programs.
SoCalGas Energy Efficiency
Contracted
Programs
Includes SoCalGas energy efficiency, contractor-delivered incentive, financing, and technical assistance programs.
SoCalREN SoCalREN
Services
Includes public agency, multifamily, financing, workforce, and regional energy efficiency support programs.
State of
California
California Grants
Portal
Statewide California grant and loan portal aggregating funding opportunities across agencies and sectors.
Priority Areas by Agency
First, some of these funding sources focus on grants and loans to local jurisdictions and others make direct contributions to consumers and taxpayers through rebates, bill credits and tax credits. The City can become an administrator for community funding for the first set of sources or tap those for its own -365-
5 needs, but its options for directing financing from the latter group are limited. In those cases, a consumer or taxpayer must directly apply for the financial benefit.
Buildings and energy opportunities include energy efficiency, electrification, heat pump incentives, benchmarking, technical assistance, low-income programs, and utility rebates. CEC, CPUC, SCE, SoCalGas, and SoCalREN are the major agencies to monitor. Most often these are direct bill credit and rebate programs from those entities and the City educates its residents about the opportunities. Certain municipal energy efficiency improvements can be funded and financed through these offerings.
Housing-related opportunities should be included only when they have a clear sustainability nexus, such as affordable housing paired with transit, electrification, resilience, infill, energy efficiency, or VMT reduction. Generic housing funds should not be emphasized unless they can be tied directly to environmental outcomes. The Strategic Growth Council funds income-qualified deed-restricted subsidized affordable housing projects based on a sustainability scorecard.
Transportation opportunities include active transportation, EV charging, clean fleets, safe streets, congestion reduction, and air-quality programs. OCTA, SCAG, Caltrans, CARB, and South Coast AQMD are especially important for this category. Most often these programs are community-wide funding sources that are to be administered by the City. Municipal operation improvements can be funded through some of these sources.
RECOMMENDED NEXT STEPS
Costa Mesa can use the Excel workbook as a living funding tracker. This version contains opportunities that match with priorities identified in the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. For each priority project, staff can identify the likely lead agency, project maturity, match availability, implementation partner, and minimum application timeline.
Near-term deadlines should not drive the strategy unless a project is “shovel ready.” Instead, the city should identify likely future-cycle programs and prepare project concepts in advance. This is especially important for competitive grants, where successful applications might require scoped projects, cost estimates, maps, community benefits, partnerships, and internal approvals before the solicitation is released.
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