To proactively and collaboratively plan for the future, leaders with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and UC Santa Cruz met to discuss efforts to advance sustainability, increase service reliability, and prepare for increased campus electrical power demand.
PG&E provides UC Santa Cruz with electrical power at its residential campus and other Santa Cruz sites. On-site generators and a cogeneration plant provide UC Santa Cruz with emergency electricity during outages.
UC Santa Cruz is on an incredible upward trajectory with aspirations to increase the depth and breadth of its research, increase educational access, and advance its overall sustainability. The campus is forecasting increased demand as it increases its impact and plans to end its reliance on fossil fuels.
“PG&E and UC Santa Cruz have a number of common goals, including clean energy and increasing power reliability,” said Tony Cobb, Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Physical Planning, Development and Operations. “This meeting was a great way to re-engage and plan for our future.”
PG&E leaders discussed its true north strategy, which has three main components: focusing on rebuilding trust and delivering excellent service for our customers; architecting a decarbonized, safe, and reliable energy system; and enabling these outcomes by building strong foundational capabilities.
The sessions throughout the day focused on a range of topics of shared interest. They included Chancellor Cynthia Larive, Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Lori Kletzer, Vice Chancellor for Research John MacMillan, as well as PG&E Vice President for the South Bay and Central Coast Region Teresa Alvarado and Regional Senior Manager Jeremy Howard.
"It is wonderful to rekindle our operational relationship with UC Santa Cruz to address the current and future needs of the university," said Jeremy Howard, Regional Senior Manager, South Bay and Central Coast Region. "There is a wonderful nexus occurring with modernizing the grid and moving towards a carbon-neutral energy system with all the amazing work being done at UC Santa Cruz with electrification, greenhouse gas reduction, and world-class research. We are excited about our collective futures and are so happy to partner with UCSC in these efforts."
