While Valentine’s Day may be hearts and flowers for some, this year we ride for the broken hearted, the unattached, the one’s doing their very best to pick themselves up and move the heck on!

I have 2 words for you: building envelope! Exciting, right? If we are honest, it is not very exciting, but it is the backbone of any energy efficiency work we do inside of buildings.

What is exciting is the concept of highly insulating windows or ‘Super Windows.’

To continue learning and expanding my knowledge on EE Workforce issues, I have had the amazing opportunity to be a member of the ACEEE Inclusive EE Workforce Development Learning Group that started in December of 2020. ACEEE is a pivotal voice when it comes to countless topics related to EE, but when it comes to the cross connection between equity in energy, their knowledge is unmatched. Within this working group I was referring to, you will find stakeholders stationed across the country all working to push equitable practices in the energy space. Representatives from utilities, program administrators, and community-based organizations all find themselves in an influential space to make a progressive difference in the world of EE- and I am honored to be a part of it.

Let’s talk about energy management systems (EMS). If you review your monthly energy bill and try to use less energy the following month, that’s an EMS, right?

However, as we continue our journey through climate change, policy adjustments, social and environmental justice, we need an expansion. Looking beyond clean energy careers, we need to create and promote “climate adaptive careers” that will serve at the forefront of an equitable workforce.

As the journey of working from home continues into the new year, PG&E is offering an innovative opportunity for you all to learn more about the space you spend most of your time occupying, your home of course!

We are back in the new year with another installment of Technology Tuesdays!

Listen up y’all. Life didn’t hit reset at 12:00:01 AM on January 1. We’re still in a global pandemic, there’s still political unrest, the world is still angry, and Disneyland is still closed. But we can have hope. We bring can bring an energy to our lives that shines so bright it sustains us and brings us though the darkest night. We can do all of that, as Dumbledore says, if we remember to turn on the light—we just ask that it be an LED bulb and when you leave the room you remember to turn it off.

As the new year commences, SJVCEO’s dedication to fighting for equitable workforce initiatives will push through. 2020 presented a new set of challenges for all and while we conquered through them (with some successes and some failures), our eyes opened even wider to the inequities in communities throughout California that were suffering at disproportionate levels. The year ahead presents a new chapter for us to author that will not only address these challenges head on but create a space for stakeholders to engage and converse about these challenges.

What a year it has BEEN for the SJVCEO! Like most of you, we have been confined to our homes since March 13th, but somehow, through all the chaos, we have made it through another year. We wanted to share our 2020 experiences and lessons learned a little different this year. Please click through these short clips to see some highlights of what we achieved this year and to hopefully have a laugh or two!

The San Luis Obispo Energy Watch Partnership has been a collaborative partnership between the SJVCEO, PG&E (until June 2020), and Southern California Gas Company for the last two years. In partnership with the County, seven incorporated cities, and the special districts, the SLOEW aspired to create and support clean energy efforts to improve the quality of life for all residents.

Hello Partners!

Its Christmas week! I am imagining the bubbling excitement at the prospect of our kids playing a handheld video game that has the endless ability to remain fully charged!

In a *bit* of a non-traditional year it seemed as good a time as any to bring out the non-traditional songs and just embrace the times.

While 2020 was a year filled with challenges and uncertainty, our partnership with the Southern California Regional Energy Network (SoCalREN) brought many victories. SJVCEO has continued to work with The Energy Coalition (TEC) as subconsultant for regional public agency engagement, outreach and implementation support for the SoCalREN Public Agency Programs.

At the end of each year, I find that it is rather therapeutic to review the progress of projects, highlight your accomplishments, acknowledge your failures, and most importantly, plan for the year ahead.