The goal was to provide grants to improve aging ventilation and plumbing systems to help keep schools cool during heat waves, filter smoke from wildfires and help combat the spread of infectious disease. The most ambitious HVAC upgrades would include solar and storage power backup so campuses could stay open even when electricity is cut off.<\/p>\n
Amounts awarded to schools have varied, ranging from about $20,000 for minor repairs to more than $2 million.<\/p>\n
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This school year, heavy snow caused schools in San Bernardino County to close for several days. Above skiers enjoy the fresh powder at Snow Summit in Big Bear in Feb. 2026. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n
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Students and their parents walk into McKinley Elementary on the first day of the 2025-2026 school year. Its district, Colton Joint Unified, is one of the first in the Inland Empire to start classes after summer vacation. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n
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Jennifer Pedroza, principal of Colton\u2019s McKinley Elementary School, welcome students walking onto campus for the first day of the 2025-26 school Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n
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A snow plow heads west along Highway 18 in Running Springs on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. Approximately 48 inches of new snow hit the Big Bear area that week, the largest storm so far this year. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n
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This school year, heavy snow caused schools in San Bernardino County to close for several days. Above skiers enjoy the fresh powder at Snow Summit in Big Bear in Feb. 2026. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a> But CalSHAPE abruptly quit doling out money in 2024 amid concerns in Sacramento about the state\u2019s burgeoning utility bills for ratepayers. In a December letter to the California Energy Commission, a handful of legislators pushed to put CalSHAPE out of business and return the $194 million to the utility companies \u201cto address our state\u2019s ongoing challenges with energy affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnytime that we are asking for ratepayers to fund these initiatives, we need to take a very, very close look at the cost effectiveness of the initiatives,\u201d said Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, who chairs the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee.<\/p>\n Despite her environmentally friendly voting record, it was Petrie-Norris who introduced a bill in 2024 to end the CalSHAPE program early, before it was set to expire in December 2026, and return the funds to the utility companies, with a requirement that ratepayers receive credits. But the bill failed.<\/p>\n Supporters of CalSHAPE say any ratepayer refunds would be negligible. According to a recent Senate budget subcommittee hearing agenda<\/a>, $1.25 per month would be returned for one year to Southern California Edison customers, $2 per month for a year to San Diego Gas & Electric customers, and 20 cents per month for a year to Pacific Gas & Electric customers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s insulting that our children and teachers\u2019 well-being and ability to learn is so little-valued,\u201d says JuNelle Harris, co-founder of the nonprofit Clean Air Allies. \u201cThis idea that CalSHAPE is somehow the root cause of utility unaffordability is absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n Petrie-Norris acknowledges that the size of the pool \u201cisn\u2019t enormous\u201d but says costs to utility customers have been \u201cdeath by a thousand cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to ensure that the things that are on people\u2019s utility bills should be the cost of delivering electricity to your house, not a bunch of other programs or pet projects,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Now, however, environmental activists are supporting a bill amendment with language to keep the CalSHAPE program alive beyond its statutory expiration on Dec. 1. If it fails, unspent funds will be returned to the investor-owned utility companies with no requirement that ratepayers receive credits on their bills.<\/p>\n Harris argues that since the money is already set aside, it should go to where it was intended. For schools, she said, \u201cThe bottom line is there is no other funding source at hand.\u201d<\/p>\n Tedious process<\/p>\n The process for school districts to actually grab a slice of the funds is somewhat tedious.<\/p>\n CalSHAPE funding was to be distributed in two phases: Phase 1 called for assessments of school HVAC systems and small repairs, while Phase 2 involved funding the serious repairs.<\/p>\n Once schools completed Phase 1, they had to submit reports to the California Energy Commission, which then had to approve them before schools could move onto the next phase. That\u2019s not to mention construction delays, supply chain disruptions and backlogged reports at the CEC, Harris says.<\/p>\n Though more than 4,500 schools received funding to have their HVAC systems assessed, only 172 have received Phase 2 funds.<\/p>\n \u201cNot very many people had actually had the opportunity (to proceed to Phase 2) before the program was frozen,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n Local impacts<\/p>\n In San Bernardino County, 227 schools received CalSHAPE funds for HVAC assessments and minor repairs, but only seven schools in the Chino Valley Unified School District have received funds for upgrades and serious repairs.<\/p>\n Yet the need is great throughout the county.<\/p>\n UndauntedK12, a national nonprofit working to make public schools resilient to climate change, estimates that among the 60,000 students statewide who have lost time to weather-related events this school year, more than 17,000 were in San Bernardino County.<\/p>\n UndauntedK12, which tracks closure notices shared by local or state agencies, says that\u2019s more students than in any other county in California.<\/p>\n San Bernardino County, the largest geographic county in the contiguous United States, encompasses both desert and mountains and \u201ccan be particularly susceptible to extreme and variable weather conditions,\u201d according to a spokesperson for the county superintendent of schools.<\/p>\n Five San Bernardino County schools shut down in August because of a public safety power shutoff, 14 more were closed due to extreme heat the following day, and two school districts were closed for several days after heavy snow in February.<\/p>\n The 14 heat-related closures occurred after a train struck utility equipment, which caused a power outage, according to the county schools spokesperson. The combination of high temperatures and the power outage prompted the San Bernardino City Unified School District to close the schools.<\/a><\/p>\n Five schools in Bear Valley Unified School District have been closed this year because of public safety power shutoffs,<\/a> temporary electricity shutoffs designed to reduce wildfire risk during strong winds or heat waves.<\/p>\n Statewide, the frequency of public safety power shutoffs increased by 145% in 2025, according to reporting by the Desert Sun.<\/a> Schools can remain open<\/a> even during power outages or shutoffs, but when temperatures are too high and there\u2019s no power backup to keep the air conditioning running, they may be forced to close.<\/p>\n When schools close because of power outages or public safety power shutoffs, children stay home, where the power often is out, too.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only are they missing out on this critical learning time, but they\u2019re not getting any respite from the heat,\u201d said Stephanie Seidmon, program director of UndauntedK12.<\/p>\n When schools are closed, students receive at-home instruction, said Karen Gray, co-chair of the San Bernardino County District Advocates for Better Schools Executive Committee, but it\u2019s \u201cnot optimal.\u201d In-person attendance is important for stability and consistency in children\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n \u201cSome kids count on school to be fed,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Given the age of public schools in California \u2014 40% were built more than 50 years ago \u2014 and the threat posed by climate change, Seidmon argues the CalSHAPE funds should be spent on infrastructure upgrades.<\/p>\n Without them, she said, \u201cwe will continue to see school closures and disruptions that could otherwise be prevented.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t
\nEnergy affordability<\/p>\n