November Spotify | we are FAMILY

The notion of family is individually meaningful to everyone, from nuclear ‘traditional’ families to downright dysfunctional or wonderfully diverse and modern. Perhaps your family experience is one of raucous laughter from dozens of cousins, or quiet memories with your core people, or maybe friends are the family you choose, Maybe your family has been broken and lost and then rebuilt into something new and more interesting. Whatever the case, there’s a song for that.”

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Energizing the Workforce: Part II- Clean Energy Revolution

After what seemed like years of awaiting results, we now have a new president entering the White House in January, former Vice President Joe Biden. A few months ago, I covered Joe Biden’s Clean Energy Revolution, which was a set of plans and policies that would be enacted if he were to win the election. Now that he is the President-Elect, stakeholders across the county are taking a deeper look into what these policies will look like for their own communities.

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“If we leave it alone who’s going to make sure the program gets out to our communities if not us?”

“Why are we like this? I mean, this isn’t even our fight. Why can’t we ever just leave things alone?”

“If we leave it alone who’s going to make sure the program gets out to our communities if not us?”

The Rural Hard to Reach Working Group (RHTR), is many things—one of which is horribly named—but what makes it special is that the group thrives on the idea that we are really are better off together. Sure, we could all write public comments on our own, but why when as a group we have a small army of drafters and copy editors and finessers? We could run our programs in our own little fiefdoms and be just fine, but why when we can take the best pieces and parts of each other and do more for rural California, not just our own regions? Why fight for just the Valley when we can improve the whole?

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Courtney Blore Kalashian
Energizing the Workforce on EE Day!

Today, October 7th, 2020, we are celebrating Energy Efficiency Day! What is the purpose of EE Day? The Energy Efficiency Day message is simple: “Save Money. Cut Pollution. Create Jobs.” At the SJVCEO, we will always continue to work towards equitable access to affordable energy for the communities that we serve. Our goals and objectives for every project we tackle are expressed in this year’s EE Day message. Saving money for our small rural communities, benefiting the environment, and (most importantly for Energizing the Workforce’s purpose) job creation

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Supporting Schools with Energy Efficiency

Educators and schools across California continue to need support as the months of “virtual school” continue. With COVID-19 regulations changing, teachers are adapting to a new normal and becoming experts on technological platforms used to execute distance learning. In addition, our rural schools face increased issues on top of the ones mentioned. “Due to their geographic locations and typically smaller sizes, rural schools face several energy efficiency and renewable energy challenges related to implementation, financing, and operations.” These difficulties highlight that our schools need extra assistance. Below you will find a variety of resources from classroom help from our utility partners to rural school energy efficiency resources from the U.S. DOE, take a look!

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Courtney Blore Kalashian
Energizing the Workforce: On Track to Trade (Programs)

From HVAC training, electrician programs, and construction certifications, there are countless trade paths that can lead to the energy industry. With the opportunity to expand our workforce, we must also recognize that the way we go about hiring and recruiting must also expand. In my own personal experience, there is an associated stigma around vocational/trade school and I am here to tell you why that is not only wrong but why it is so important for our industry to encourage these programs to better our workforce.

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Technology Tuesdays: Membrane Filtration

Before we get going on this topic, let’s talk a bit about what a membrane is. It is a “thin layer of semi-permeable material that separates substances when a driving force is applied across the membrane.” Membrane filtration can be used for a number of different processes. Namely, for the removal of particles that are too fine for ordinary filtration techniques from liquids. These particles include proteins, bacteria, viruses, and dissolved salts.

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