San Jose Standard

SAN JOSE, Calif.  – The City of San José proudly announces that Lori Mitchell, Director of San José Clean Energy, has been honored as a Woman of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The award celebrates her exceptional leadership, innovative vision, and outstanding contributions in the San José community.

Through Mitchell’s leadership, San José Clean Energy has spearheaded numerous initiatives to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality, and lower energy bills. Further, her commitment to equity enhances San José’s ability to address the unique energy needs of its diverse communities.

“Since joining our team in 2017, Lori has built a department dedicated to improving the lives of San José residents and businesses,” said City Manager Jennifer Maguire. “Her focus on serving one of the most diverse cities in the country has created an office that is revered by other organizations for its inclusion and access focus.”

“We’re proud to have Lori leading the design of clean energy programs that ensure no resident is left behind in our City’s transition to a more environmentally conscious future,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan. “Lori’s work elevates San José as a leader in the fight against climate change and makes going green both accessible and affordable for our community.”

As leader of San José Clean Energy, Mitchell is tackling one of the most important parts of meeting the City’s climate goals – decarbonizing the energy that powers San José. Under her leadership, San José Clean Energy has contracted for over 600 megawatts of new cost-effective renewable energy and storage resources. That’s enough clean energy to power over 300,000 San José homes each year.

In addition to securing cleaner energy for the city, Mitchell is focused on improving access to clean energy technology and lowering energy bills. In 2022, San José Clean Energy became one of the first Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) to offer additional discounts to customers enrolled in the state’s electricity bill assistance programs. The SJ Cares program will help over 75,000 families save over $5.5 million this year. Mitchell is also spearheading an innovative project to add more electric vehicle (EV) chargers throughout the city so more families can consider an EV for their next vehicle.

Mitchell’s expertise and passion have made her a respected voice in the renewable energy industry. She is currently the President of the California Community Choice Association (CalCCA) Board of Directors and Vice Chair of California Community Power. Her accomplishments serve as an inspiration to women who aspire to drive positive change within local government and the energy sector.

Mitchell signed up to launch San José Clean Energy in 2017 with the goal of bringing more renewable power options to San José families and businesses. It is the largest CCA operated by a single jurisdiction and serves over 350,000 customers. With local support and unanimous approval from City Council, San José Clean Energy began providing electric generation service in February 2019. The legacy utility, PG&E, continues to deliver electricity, maintain powerlines, and respond to outages.

About the City of San José
With almost one million residents, San José is one of the most diverse large cities in the United States and is Northern California’s largest city and the 12th largest city in the nation. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center has resulted in one of the largest concentrations of technology companies and expertise in the world.

About San José Clean Energy
San José Clean Energy (SJCE) is the local, not-for-profit electricity generation provider for homes and businesses in the City of San José. SJCE is operated by the City’s Community Energy Department and governed by the City Council. SJCE provides 350,000 customer accounts with clean energy at competitive rates plus the additional benefits of customer choice, community programs, local control, transparency, and accountability. For more information, please visit www.SanJoseCleanEnergy.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and LinkedIn @SJCleanEnergy. 

Original source can be found here.