new year's resolutions

What Has SJVCEO Been up to in December

We hope everyone had a happy holiday and a safe new years. Hopefully everyone was able to enjoy a few days at home with family and friends. Here at SJVCEO we cant believe that we are rolling into 2017 already...where did the year go. 2016 went so quickly and our team accomplished many feats and cant wait to see what the new year holds. In the final month of the year our team was busy at work tying up loose ends before heading into 2017.

For the VIEW Partnership we are happy to announce that the County of Kings has just passed its energy action plan which allows them to move up within the SoCal Edison ELP model. We are also happy to announce that the partnership will be working with the NOAA on their Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador program. The partnership will bring the message of weather readiness as well as how to build resilient communities to our partner communities. With many of the partnerships projects completed for 2016 our team began the planning process for our annual awards luncheon. At our annual luncheon we honor our partners that have moved up in the ELP model as well as made large efficiency gains. We like to take this time after the holidays to show appreciation for our partners as well as elected officials that have supported the partnerships efforts. We look forward to the luncheon as well as what 2017 brings for our VIEW partners.

With our HDR Partnership we are looking ahead to 2017 and getting together a plan to conquer energy savings. A few of our partners are looking into streetlight conversions and or upgrades. Many of the streetlights that are in existence house high pressure sodium lights. The name may not sound familiar but in essence they are the lights that provide a nice orange glow. We will report back energy projects and energy savings once they come in. We are also very excited to be holding our inaugural recognition luncheon in February. We cant wait to honor our energy partners as well as meet a few elected officials from the area.

Our METU Program has been busy at work over the last month. Our project analyst met with 4 out of the 8 cities involved in the Fresno County region.  The program has also begun to benchmark for the cities of Kerman, Selma and Firebaugh and Municipal Readiness Reports are in the works.  We have completed paperwork for the City of San Joaquin as they have expressed interest to get started.  Cities within Kern County are still on the METU radar.  Outreach has continued into the month of December and and connected with the City of Wasco. We are still working with the City of Avenal and it is on track for direct installation projects at the beginning of the new year.We are also happy to say that our website will be launching in the next week or so. We will be completing an official roll out as soon as it is complete. So stay tuned!

And finally, over the last month SJVCEO was named one of the recipients of the Wonderful Communities Grant in the City of Avenal. Our team will be working with the city over the next year on improving energy efficiency for residents and homeowners. We area very excited to begin the project and report back some of our successes!


That is all for this month!



See What SJVCEO Has Been Up To in December

From all of us here at SJVCEO we hope that you had a very happy holiday and a wonderful new year! Here at SJVCEO we are hoping to kick off the new year with a big bang as we continue to raise our energy saving goals for 2016. It may seem like a steep uphill battle but thanks to a close working relationship with our energy champions in our jurisdictions it will be a walk in the park. 
With December being SJVCEO's "dark month" we don't have a lot to report for the month. We hope to come back with a few great motivating stories for you  in the beginning of 2016... so keep an eye out!

Energize the new year with green resolutions

The first of any new year offers new horizons, new choices and unlimited potential. Right? Well, maybe not.
Reality sets in usually after the first month. For instance, look at any health club. The first week of January, it'll be packed with sweating new members dutifully pounding out the miles on the stationary bike, treadmill or eliptical machine. But by mid February that influx often dries up and by the first of March, those newcomers are history.

Energy efficiency isn't nearly as tough to maintain. Buy a compact fluorescent light, screw it in and watch the savings. Upgrade your furnace and enjoy the reduced utility bills. Add solar panels and watch energy consumption drop into negative territory during the hot summer days.

This holds true for business owners as well as individuals. City governments also can benefit. It's equal opportunity. So look this year to clean energy. You never know what you'll find.