About Us

We are the Bassett Avocado Heights Advanced Energy Community (or BAAEC, pronounced “bay-sea”, for short). From 2017-2018, we engaged the community in Bassett and Avocado Heights through education on energy, project outreach, and surveys and focus groups to assess interest and gather feedback on building a local advanced energy community. The community showed interest (over 76% of survey respondents want to reduce electricity costs!), so now we’re here to help bring the ideas you shared to life!

Our mission is to break down the barriers to energy projects and inspire the community to come together to build an advanced energy community. We’ve secured grant funding from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to help save you money on your energy bills, reduce local pollution, and show the rest of California (and the world!) how we can transition to a just and clean energy future. Learn more about the team that’s helping make it happen below.

Community Partners

Thank you to our community partners for your help bringing the Bassett Avocado Heighs Advanced Energy Community to life!

  • Bassett Unified School District

    Working collaboratively with all stakeholders, the Bassett Unified School District mission is to provide engaging and rigorous learning opportunities, using integrated technology in state-of-the-art learning environments, to graduate College and Career Ready students.

  • Clean Power Alliance

    Clean Power Alliance is a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program offering clean renewable energy across Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

  • Los Angeles County

    Los Angeles County is the most populous county in the United States and in the state of California. It is the largest non–state-level government entity in the United States. The County is dedicated to making our communities healthier, more livable, economically stronger, more equitable, more resilient, and more sustainable.

Implementation Team

We’ve assembled a team of experts to take the dream of an advanced energy community in Basset and Avocado Heights and make it real. Learn more about our clean energy crew below!

  • The Energy Coalition

    The Energy Coalition (TEC) is a California-based 501(c)3 nonprofit with over 45 years of experience designing and implementing programs and strategies that transform energy use and empower communities to take action.

  • Aclima

    Aclima delivers hyperlocal air quality data and insights to improve human and planetary health.

  • Active SGV

    ActiveSGV works to create a more sustainable, equitable, and livable San Gabriel Valley.

  • California Center for Sustainable Communities, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

    The California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA conducts research on energy, water, and urban ecosystems.

  • Community Electricity

    Community Electricity is an advanced electricity community developer that assesses, designs, aggregates, finances and manages prosumer electricity networks block by block.

  • Day One

    Day One has 30 years of experience in building healthy, vibrant cities by advancing public health, empowering youth, and igniting change in the San Gabriel Valley.

  • GRID Alternatives

    GRID Alternatives is a national leader in making clean, affordable solar power and solar jobs accessible to low-income communities and communities of color.

  • Haven

    Hercules Roofing is an expert roofing service company that specializes in efficient roof repair and roof replacement services.

  • Hercules Roofing

    Hercules Roofing is an expert roofing service company that specializes in efficient roof repair and roof replacement services.

  • Perl Street
    Perl Street

    Perl Street is a platform for developing, financing, and managing distributed energy and infrastructure assets. It enables project developers to aggregate their assets into a bankable structure, raise capital and become scalable asset managers.

  • Pivot Energy

    Pivot Energy is a leader in community solar & clean energy projects. They serve the commercial solar ecosystem: retail customers, system operators, utilities & financiers.

  • Quality Conservation Services (QSC)

    Quality Conservation provides moderate- and lower-income households with totally free energy efficiency improvements and appliances, funded by local electric and gas utilities.

  • Sensor Comm Tech

    SensorComm seeks to build a better, more sustainable world with smart internet of things solutions for transportation and healthcare.

  • SpaceAI

    Space AI Inc, brings the SOS (Space Operating System) integrating the space and the internet of things in the cubesat standard.

Community Advisory Committee

The Community Advisory Committee is a coalition of local stakeholders providing input on the design and implementation of the Advanced Energy Community.

  • Dr. Alejandro Alvarez, Ed.D.

    Superintendent of Schools
    Bassett Unified School District

  • Martha Arceo

    Principal
    Bassett Unified School District

  • Florencio Briones

    Trustee
    El Monte Union High School District

  • Anthony Duarte

    Chief Executive Officer
    Regional Chamber of Commerce, San Gabriel Valley

  • Rebecca Overmyer-Velázquez

    Coordinator
    Clean Air Coalition of North Whittier and Avocado Heights

  • Christine Salazar

    Trustee for Area 3
    Hacienda La Puente Unified School District

  • Laura Santos

    Community Relations Specialist

  • Apolonia Sullivan

    Community Member

Technical Advisory Committee

The Technical Advisory Committee informs project implementation and engages in discussions around every advanced feature of the project, bringing forward key technical and energy market insights that guide the design and implementation of BAAEC.

  • Panama Bartholomy

    Director of the Building Decarbonization Initiative

  • Edward Cazalet

    CEO and founder at TeMex Inc.

  • Mohit Chhabra

    Senior Scientist, Climate Clean Energy Program for the Natural Resources Defense Council

  • Dylan Cutler

    Product Manager at Camus Energy

  • Rebecca Ferdman

    Sustainability Policy Advisor at the Los Angeles County Chief Sustainability Office

  • Andrew Ioan

    Electrical Engineer for Southern California Edison

  • Peter Klauer

    Senior Advisor, Smart Grid Technology, at the California Independent System Operator Corporation in Folsom, California

  • Lorenzo Kristov

    Former California Independent System Operator Policy Principal

  • Jody London

    Contra Costa County Sustainability Coordinator

  • Miguel Angel Luna

    Expert in working with diverse communities on social justice issues and advocacy

  • Scott Murtishaw

    Formerly at California Solar & Storage Association and California Public Utilities Commission

  • Walker Wells

    Principal at Raimi+Associates, a mission-driven urban planning and sustainability consultancy

  • Greg Wikler

    Executive Director of the California Efficiency + Demand Management Council

  • Garrett Wong

    Climate Program Manager for the County of Santa Barbara