California’s Community Choice Agencies Celebrate Success

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Across California, 24 Community Choice Agencies provide clean power to more than 14 million customers. Community Choice Agencies are local, not-for-profit government agencies that empower communities to purchase electrical power on behalf of their residents. In this webinar, we celebrated the successes of California’s Community Choice Agencies and Sonoma Clean Power’s tenth anniversary. Sonoma Clean Power’s founding CEO Geof Syphers discussed the agency’s achievements, ongoing challenges, and opportunities to reduce climate pollution and save customers money. We also learned about customer programs that support local renewable energy projects for California’s largest Community Choice Agency, the Clean Power Alliance. Lastly, we heard about efforts to advance environmental justice and workforce standards at all Community Choice Agencies.

Presentations and Resources

Speakers

Geof Syphers

CEO, Sonoma Clean Power

Geof Syphers is the Chief Executive Officer of Sonoma Clean Power, a position he has held since the program’s inception in 2013. Under his leadership, Sonoma Clean Power now serves 600,000 people throughout Sonoma and Mendocino counties with cleaner power at competitive rates. Before his current position, Mr. Syphers worked for 20 years as an energy consultant to utilities, public agencies, and private companies. His work has spanned microgrid design, zero-carbon community design, and energy efficiency program implementation. He served as the Chief Sustainability Officer for Codding Enterprises and was the founding Director of DNV’s Green Building Group.

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Joanne O’Neill

Director of Customer Programs at Clean Power Alliance

Joanne serves as the Director of Customer Programs at Clean Power Alliance, leading a mix of programs promoting electric vehicles and buildings, demand response, energy resiliency, and low-income community solar. She has over 15 years of experience delivering customer programs within the utility and consulting space. This includes over 5 years of leading the California operations at CLEAResult, the largest provider of emission-reducing energy solutions across North America, and more than 10 years at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). When at PG&E, Joanne designed and implemented numerous customer programs and led the strategy for the implementation of time-of-use rates.

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Ana Rosa Rizo-Centino

Environmental Justice Representative, Community Choice Agency Environmental Justice Workforce Alliance Coordinating Team

Environmental Justice Workforce Alliance Coordinating Team. Ana Rosa’s work focuses on community co-empowerment, government transparency, environmental justice issues, and support for working families. Ana has served as Network Manager of the Central Coast Climate Justice Network (C3JN), Central Coast Senior Organizer for Food & Water Watch, Mayor and Planning Commissioner for the City of Maywood, Executive Director for PUEBLO & PUEBLO Education Fund, California Lead Organizer for the National Farm Worker Ministry, and the National Coordinator for the Student Labor Action Project for the United States Student Association and Jobs with Justice. She currently works for the United Farm Workers. 

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