2020 Honorees of Annual MCE Advocacy Awards include The Centers for Independent Living with Vi Ibarra, Deborah Elliott, and the Fairfax Climate Action Committee
POUR PUBLICATION IMMÉDIATE March 19, 2021
Contact presse MCE :
Jenna Famular, Marketing & Communications Manager
(925) 378-6747 | jfamular@mcecleanenergy.org
SAN RAFAEL et CONCORD, Calif. — MCE’s Board of Directors recognized three recipients of this year’s Charles F. McGlashan Advocacy Awards at MCE’s Board of Directors Meeting on March 18, 2021 with honorees that include: The Centers for Independent Living of Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, and Solano Counties with Vi Ibarra, Deborah Elliott from the County of Napa, and the Fairfax Climate Action Committee.
MCE established this annual award in June 2011 to commemorate and memorialize the legacy of environmental leadership by former founding MCE Chair, Charles F. McGlashan. This year’s recipients are being recognized for their partnership and ongoing commitment to environmental justice and community choice.
“MCE has always been driven by our communities’ needs, and we are proud this year to recognize these outstanding partners,” said Kevin Haroff, MCE Board Director, Executive Committee Chair, and City of Larkspur councilmember. “The work done by this year’s recipients showcases how community leadership can benefit our most vulnerable populations and our planet simultaneously. We are grateful to work with these organizations and others to support our communities in this time of need.”
More information about this year’s recipients can be found below:
The Centers for Independent Living of Contra Costa, Marin, Napa and Solano Counties with Vi Ibarra
In March 2020, MCE’s Executive Committee approved $250,000 from the MCE Resiliency Fund for the purchase of portable back-up batteries to support medically vulnerable customers. MCE’s local Centers for Independent Living and Vi Ibarra from the Developmental Disabilities Council of Contra Costa conducted critical outreach to reach these customers and ensure the batteries were distributed before the 2020 Public Safety Power Shutoff season. Special efforts were made by Vi Ibarra, who secured a Contra Costa County COVID-19-related contractor to carry-out the delivery of batteries to those most vulnerable. These partners are receiving the 2020 Charles F. McGlashan Advocacy Award for successful delivery of these batteries which increase energy resiliency while minimizing the need for polluting fossil fuel generators.
Deborah Elliott, County of Napa
As Napa County’s Environmental Resource Specialist, Deborah has been instrumental to MCE’s work throughout Napa County. She serves as a key liaison between multiple MCE staff across various departments, helping connect Napa residents and businesses to important services and programs including the Advanced Energy Rebuild Napa Program, Bay Area Regional Energy Network, MCE’s Energy Storage Program, MCEv Charging, MCE’s Low-Income Families and Tenants Pilot, and recent FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) applications. Deborah frequently goes above and beyond her role as MCE’s Napa County liaison, working with MCE staff to meet state and federal funding application deadlines. Her passion for climate action and sustainability is vital and has been critical to achieving MCE’s mission in Napa County. For this reason, she is a recipient of the 2020 Charles F. McGlashan Advocacy Award.
Fairfax Climate Action Committee (CAC)
The Fairfax Climate Action Committee (CAC) has long been an advocate for MCE, and through its continued efforts to encourage more residents to opt up into Deep Green, Fairfax has a Deep Green adoption rate of 8.6%, the highest in our member communities. Beyond the CAC’s Deep Green advocacy, this group has continued to be at the forefront of climate action technology and policy. In early 2020, the Fairfax Town Council approved and provided seed-funding for the CAC to move forward with the design of a battery storage system for the Fairfax Pavilion which could be combined with its rooftop solar for a proposed microgrid system. The CAC has been working with MCE staff on this program and hopes to apply for funding through the state’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). The CAC is currently updating the Town’s Climate Action Plan to include strategies to become carbon neutral by 2030. The 2020 Charles F. McGlashan Advocacy Award goes to the Fairfax CAC for these efforts, along with the CAC’s continued advocacy for decreasing Fairfax’s greenhouse gas emissions.
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À propos de MCE : As California’s first Community Choice Aggregation Program, MCE is a groundbreaking, not-for-profit, public agency that has been setting the standard for energy innovation in our communities since 2010. MCE offers cleaner power at stable rates, significantly reducing energy-related greenhouse emissions and enabling millions of dollars of reinvestment in local energy programs. MCE is a load-serving entity supporting a 1,200 MW peak load. MCE provides electricity service to more than 480,000 customer accounts and more than one million residents and businesses in 36 member communities across four Bay Area counties: Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, and Solano. For more information about MCE, visit mceCleanEnergy.orgou suivez-nous sur Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter et Instagram.
