Riverside is the 12th largest city in California and home to more than 300,000 people with diverse cultures and traditions. Our city is home to several prestigious universities and is made up of more than two dozen unique neighborhoods. More than 100 years after its founding, Riverside still honors its strong heritage and takes great care to preserve its natural resources.
On GreenRiverside.com, you’ll find out just how easy it is to save water and energy as a RPU customer. From our lighting and home appliance rebates to our new construction and waterwise landscape incentives, there are lots of ways for you to save while increasing efficiency. Take a look around!
Clean energy sources are all around us, and as the need for this energy grows, so does our resolve to harness it for Riverside's use.
Energy sources are considered clean when they come from natural and renewable places, like the sun, wind, and even underground steam. Here are some clean energy sources we’re already using:
The sun releases a constant flow of tremendous energy, which we can capture using photovoltaic (PV) panels. Riverside is truly a solar city, and with RPU’s Residential Photovoltaic Rebate Program, we offer special rebates to our electric customers when they install solar systems on their property.
Learn more about our Residential Photovoltaic Rebate Program.
Look around the city and see if you can spot our many PV systems. One covers parking spaces at the La Sierra Metrolink Station, and another sits on the rooftop of an Indiana Avenue apartment building, helping residents save money every month on their electric bills.
Hydroelectricity is produced when water rushes past specially-designed turbines, causing them to turn and generate electricity. Riverside's hydroelectric energy comes from Hoover Dam on the Colorado River.
Wind is abundant, renewable, and can be converted into usable electricity when it's captured by high-tech wind turbines. Although this technology is somewhat new and the industry is evolving, Riverside is committed to wind power and its contribution to our diverse energy mix.
The inland region's many crevices and clefts makes harnessing underground steam for energy much easier than in areas with largely unbroken ground. In fact, Riverside receives more clean energy from this ancient source than from any other kind. It’s called geothermal power, and it provides more power in our city than you might think.
Californians create millions of tons of waste each year, which until relatively recently was shipped to landfills to simply decompose. Using state-of-the-art technology, energy experts have discovered news ways of capturing the methane gas released by our waste and are turning it into energy. This clean resource is called biomass energy, and after it's converted into electricity in nearby power plants, it's capable of powering thousands of Riverside homes.