Bay Area

City of Oakland Receives Millions of Dollars to Help Tenants, Property Owners with Back Bills

The City is partnering with four local community-based, not-for-profit organizations – Bay Area Community Services (BACS), Catholic Charities East Bay, Centro Legal de la Raza, and Eviction Defense Center – to engage with and identify potential applicants as well as to screen and process applications.

Published

4 years ago

April 9, 2021

Mia Lane

The City of Oakland’s Keep Oakland Housed Emergency Rental Assistance Program (KOH/ERAP) began accepting applications April 1, 2021. The program, one of two being offered to Oakland residents and property owners, targets the most vulnerable community members who are behind in rent and/or utilities.

Tenants may apply to the City’s program through a single portal (linked below). Property owners are also eligible to apply for funding for unpaid rent and/or utilities on behalf of their tenants once gaining written permission from the tenants.

There are currently two rental assistance programs offered to Oakland tenants and property owners simultaneously – the City program known as Keep Oakland Housed Emergency Rental Assistance Program (KOH/ERAP) and the State program often referred to as SB 91 Rental Assistance Program.

Duplicate applications to both programs is strictly prohibited, and there are distinct differences in eligibility requirements. As such, anyone who thinks they may be eligible should contact a partner agency for individual case review. See partner contact information below.

The application period for the City program opened April 1, 2021 and runs through March 31, 2022, or until funds are exhausted.

The City program serves:

• Tenants at or below 50% of Area Median Income (AMI) – $65,250 for a four-person household.

• Property owners of 100% restricted affordable housing.

• KOH/ERAP is managed by the city in partnership with local partner agencies

• Visit the City of Oakland’s website here for more information on how to apply.

The State program serves:

• Tenants above 50% AMI – $65,250 for a four-person household.

• Property owners applying for their building(s).

• The State program will pay up to 80% of rent owed; 20% must be forgiven.

• The State program, SB91 Rental Assistance Program is managed by Horne LLP and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).

• Visit the State website for more information on how to apply.

More Information or Apply Now

City of Oakland:

• Visit the Housing & Community Development page of the City website.

• Call the Housing Resource Center (510) 238-6182

Partner agency contact:

• Bay Area Community Services (BACS) – (510) 899-9289

• Catholic Charities of the East Bay – (510) 860-4985

• Centro Legal de la Raza – (510) 437-1554

• Eviction Defense Center – (510) 452-4541

Find the Keep Oakland Housed Emergency Rental Assistance Application: https://hpp.bayareacs.org/

L. Autumn King is in the City of Oakland Administrator’s office.

Mia Lane

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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

Published

5 hours ago

May 30, 2025

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

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5 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.