WHO WE ARE

Clean Power Exchange (CPX) is a project of The Climate Center. CPX serves as a hub of information, resources, and conversation for communities interested in or considering a Community Choice Energy program, and those already serving customers. Webinar.

Dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Center launched CPX to accelerate the growth of Community Choice energy programs across California and beyond.

Community Choice energy is the most powerful, cost-effective, local solution for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to analysis that the Center conducted from 2006 to 2008. For this reason, the Center initiated and led the campaign to form Sonoma Clean Power, California’s second operational Community Choice program, which began serving customers in May 2014. Sonoma Clean Power saved its customers about $14 million in its first year of operation and reduced GHG emissions to almost 50% of PG&E’s emissions.

Learn more about Community Choice.

Team

Woody Hastings

is the Renewable Energy Manager for The Climate Center. He is an energy, environmental, and social justice policy analyst, strategic planner, and community organizer with over 28 years of experience in the non-profit, governmental, and private sectors. Woody specializes in Community Choice energy, a state policy that empowers local communities to establish their own not-for-profit electricity service, thereby taking control over decision-making about energy sources for electricity generation. Woody joined the staff of the Center in 2010 to help establish Sonoma Clean Power, the second Community Choice program in California. Woody is a 2012 Fellow of the Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy and has a degree in Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice from San Francisco State University.

Ann Hancock

is co-founder and Executive Director of The Climate Center and she oversees Clean Power Exchange. With more than 25 years in community leadership, education and fundraising, she has been a sustainability planner for the County of Marin, commentator for TomPaine.com, human sexuality instructor at Humboldt State University, and real estate broker. She has a Masters in Public Health Administration and Planning from the University of California, Berkeley.

Barry Vesser

is the Deputy Director at The Climate Center. He led a team that organized two large symposiums on Community Choice Energy in California in Petaluma (2014) and San Jose (2016).  He manages the Center’s Business for Clean Energy program that serves to advance the development of the clean energy economy in California and has been involved in Community Choice advocacy.  He also assists with the organization’s strategic planning and program development. He has a Masters Degree in International Public Administration from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a BA in Political and Social Thought from the University of Virginia.

Stacey Meinzen

is the Communications Manager for The Climate Center.  Stacey has fifteen years of experience as a communications and research professional. She has served as a Marketing Specialist for the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program, researched proven and promising measures in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for Sonoma County’s Climate Action 2020 Plan, and worked as a Program Analyst for Sonoma County’s Regional Climate Protection Authority.

Nina Turner

is the Renewable Energy Program Associate for The Climate Center, focusing on Clean Power Exchange.  She maintains the project’s social media networks, blogs, and CPX e-news. Nina has a B.A. from Sonoma State University in Environmental Studies and Planning with a concentration in Energy Management and Design.

Destiny Rodriguez

is a Community Organizer for The Climate Center. Destiny has worked on air quality, health, and environmental issues in the Central Valley for over ten years. Destiny has worked for organizations such as the Central California Asthma Collaborative, Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, Coalition for Clean Air, National Parks Conservation Association, and the San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust. She is passionate about helping her community and the environment. Destiny has a B.S. in Mass Communications Journalism with emphasis on Public Relations, and Chicano Latin American Studies from California State University, Fresno.

Central

LaTisha Harris

is a Community Outreach Specialist in the Central Valley. She works primarily in Fresno and surrounding areas. She has over ten years of grassroots and labor organizing experience, lobbying and executing campaigns on various issues throughout the state of California. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from California State University, Fresno.

Valeria Sanabia

is a Community Outreach Specialist for Stockton and the San Joaquin Valley. Valeria brings a background in engaging the business community to her work with the Center. As a member of the California Chamber of Commerce International Affairs and Corporate Relations teams, Valeria advocated for Californian Businesses to ensure their place in the international marketplace. Valeria has a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.A. International Affairs and Commerce from University of the Pacific. She is fluent in Spanish.

Dolores Weller

is the Executive Director of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition and a Special Advisor to the Clean Power Exchange project. She serves as leader of a 70+ member organization coalition committed to improving air quality in the San Joaquin Valley. Knowledgeable of air pollution and its impacts, she’s an advocate for public health, especially addressing the needs of environmental justice communities. In her six years with the coalition, she has proven to be a catalyst for local air quality policy change. Dolores earned her B.A. in Comparative Politics with a minor in Spanish Literature from the University of California, San Diego. 

Erik Cherkaski, MPA

is the Clean Power Exchange Correspondent for Fresno County and the City of Fresno. Erik is a Project Coordinator based at Fresno State University’s Office of Community and Economic Development. Erik originally hails from the East Coast, living in New York City and New Hampshire before moving to the San Joaquin Valley to attend college, then deciding to make the Central Valley his home. Erik earned both his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and his Master of Public Administration degrees at CSU Fresno in 2011 and 2013, respectively. He has expertise in public policy and budgeting, state and local governments, quantitative political data and statistical applications, organizational theory, and ethics.

Pedro Hernández

is the Clean Power Exchange Correspondent for the South San Joaquin Valley. He is a community organizer, historian, first-generation Californio, and teacher of middle school to college level students, often with a focus on environmental problems and solutions. Pedro holds an Associate in Arts degree in Social Sciences from West Hills College, Lemoore, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from UC Berkeley.

Tulsi Patel

is the Clean Power Exchange Correspondent for San Joaquin County and the City of Stockton. Tulsi is a lawyer with substantial experience in energy and climate policy. Prior to joining the CPX team, some of Tulsi’s work included drafting power purchase agreements, ensuring compliance with state conservation and environmental standards, and attending negotiations of, and reviewing a 15-year supplier service agreement for, a wind power plant. Tulsi graduated from UCLA, cum laude, earning her degree in Sociology. She went on to receive her Juris Doctorate from Boston University School of Law in 2015.

The Climate Center is a California, non-profit 501(c)(3). Its mission is to inspire, align, and mobilize action in response to the climate crisis. We partner with business, government, youth and the broader community to advance practical, science-based solutions for significant greenhouse gas emission reductions. To learn more about the Center, visit www.theclimatecenter.org