Community Energy Resilience

Collaborating Across Sectors to Accelerate Electric School Bus Adoption for Reliable Energy

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Transitioning to electric school buses presents a unique opportunity to bring together diverse stakeholders for a common mission: securing clean air, health for our kids, living wage jobs, and a reliable and affordable electricity system.  Join us to hear from leaders working across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors for mass adoption of bidirectional electric … Read more

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Climate wins to celebrate

States are where the climate action is these days, and California has been a leader among leaders! Recent federal attacks on climate progress coupled with unprecedented climate impacts make me more committed than ever to ensure we continue to lead here in the Golden State to rapidly cut climate pollution and make our communities more … Read more

Categories Community Energy Resilience Fossil Fuels

California Bidirectional Electric School Bus Policy Coalition Meeting

David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Suite 100, Berkeley, California 94704, Tamalpais Room 

California has led the nation in electric school bus adoption, now home to nearly one-quarter of all electric school buses nationwide. However, without a unified strategy, California could miss opportunities to leverage these buses as grid resources to enhance the affordability, resilience, and reliability of the state’s electrical grid. This meeting will open with presentations … Read more

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Pooja Agarwal joins The Climate Center as the Community Energy Resilience Policy Manager

Pooja Agarwal

My introduction to climate work started with a pretty eye-opening discovery in my middle school cafeteria. As part of our sixth-grade service learning project, my classmates and I had to identify a problem impacting our public school and come up with a solution. My team and I figured we’d tackle something environmental — we had … Read more

Categories Community Energy Resilience
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Testimony: Virtual Power Plants can deliver clean and cheap electricity

On July 15, 2025, the California Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee voted to advance AB 740 (Harabedian), a bill to scale up the use of virtual power plants (VPPs) in California. VPPs are networks of clean, distributed energy resources like smart thermostats, home batteries, smart plugs, electric water heaters, and electric vehicles. When aggregated, … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Community Energy Resilience Energy Efficiency
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California should go on offense over EVs

On June 12, President Trump signed congressional resolutions to repeal California’s vehicle emissions clean air standards and revoked California’s 2035 electric vehicle sales mandate. Then on June 20, the Supreme Court ruled that oil companies can sue states over vehicle emissions standards in the future. And now, Republicans are pushing a budget bill that would … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Community Energy Resilience Transportation

The Affordability and Public Health Benefits of Bidirectional Electric School Buses

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Electric school bus charging.

Californians are facing soaring electricity bills and some of the most polluted air in the country. A massive rollout of bidirectional electric school buses across the state can help tackle both problems. Bidirectional electric vehicles, including school buses, can store energy in their batteries and feed it back to the grid when it’s needed most. … Read more

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Urge Governor Newsom to use electric vehicles for cheap, reliable electricity

Californians are facing the twin crises of soaring utility bills and unreliable electricity. Wildfires, heatwaves, and other climate-fueled extreme weather events pose an increasing threat to the reliability and resilience of our electrical grid.  Electricity rates continue to climb as corporate utilities spend on expensive grid infrastructure upgrades. In addition, utilities are using climate-polluting “peaker” … Read more

Categories Community Energy Resilience Transportation
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The anti-climate bill that worries me right now

California should ensure that rooftop solar is affordable for working-class Californians because it saves all of us money and makes the grid more resilient and clean. Instead, with the help of corporate utilities, state leaders are attempting to walk back promises to early adopters and make solar much less affordable for everyone. On June 3, … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Community Energy Resilience

How Electric School Buses Can Help Californians Save Money, Cut Pollution, and Keep the Lights On

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Right now, nine out of ten school buses across the country run on fossil fuels. California, however, leads the nation in electric school bus adoption, with more than 3,100 electric buses in the state. Every electric school bus provides an opportunity to cut air and climate pollution and save money in California communities. Electric school … Read more