SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Cindy and Paul Harman live about an hour from Sacramento in the Sierra Foothills. Their home is filled with memories from raising a family, landscape projects, renovations and finding hobbies as they settle into retirement. But life in the foothills is now coming with more challenges.
“Everything just seems to get more and more expensive all the time,” said Paul Harman. “And what friends we used to have don’t live here anymore. They have moved. Lots of them have left.”
One of the biggest pressures comes from the cost of power. The Harmans once paid as much as $500 a month for electricity before turning to solar panels. Living in a high fire-risk area also means dealing with regular shutdowns when dangerous weather develops…