With a focus on the San Diego region’s job growth, smarter technology development, solar energy storage integration and increased electric vehicle infrastructure and deployment, Smart City San Diego is delivering results. The collaborative is made up of City of San Diego, GE, UC San Diego, CleanTECH San Diego and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).  It formed to leverage each entity’s strengths to create and implement initiatives to improve the region’s energy independence, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and assert San Diego as a clean energy leader.

“Over the past year, Smart City San Diego has been forward-thinking about creating opportunities for a more sustainable region,” said San Diego Mayor Sanders. “Moving into 2012, our collaborative will continue to build on those results and develop and launch even more initiatives to drive economic growth for our region.”

These results include:

Car2Go: The City of San Diego and SDG&E worked with Daimler’s Car2Go to make San Diego’s launch of its plug-in electric vehicle car sharing pilot a big success. The City continues to work with SDG&E to increase the number of public-access charging stations throughout the Car2Go targeted region. The team is working collectively to educate the community about the benefits of the pilot program and expects to increase public interest in electric vehicles and encourage the growth of the plug-in electric vehicle industry in San Diego. Data gained from Car2Go will provide information on where charging stations are most needed. Smart City San Diego also continues to work to streamline the permitting process for deploying charging stations.

Smart Appliances: SDG&E and GE are working together to test the communication links between GE’s smart appliances and SDG&E’s smart meters to ensure consumers are empowered with the best technologies to manage energy use and costs. GE’s Appliances business is supplying SDG&E with a smart dishwasher, washer and dryer along with a GE Nucleus energy manager and Programmable Control Thermostat to expedite the testing process. SDG&E’s team is currently testing the communication between these assets prior to consumer deployment.

Economic Development and Job Growth: CleanTECH San Diego – working with the City of San Diego, SDG&E, UC San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and its private sector member companies – is quantifying and categorizing regional clean tech companies that touch smart grid technology development. Categories include solar energy, energy storage, energy efficiency, clean transportation and other technology companies. CleanTECH San Diego has also created a baseline analysis of the direct and indirect economic impacts of the named clusters. This baseline analysis can help quantify year-over-year job growth and other economic impacts of the regional smart grid sector. This will be particularly helpful in measuring the economic impact of the over 180 solar companies and over 20 storage companies that call San Diego home.

Solar Integrated Energy Storage: UC San Diego and SDG&E have submitted a grant application to test, demonstrate and evaluate a variety of solar integrated energy storage projects over a 12 to 24 month period. If funded, this initiative will test multiple applications at multiple sites and provide analysis for the benefit of utilities, grid planners, regulators, solar inverter manufacturers, system integrators, business modelers, energy storage manufacturers and other early adopters. CleanTECH San Diego supports this initiative as part of efforts to advance the region as an Innovation Hub (IHub).  In August 2010, the California Governor’s Office of Economic Development designated the greater San Diego region as an IHub for solar energy storage.  The purpose of the IHub is to build on the region’s existing innovation infrastructure and strong culture of collaboration to accelerate the convergence of solar energy and energy storage.

Policy Leadership: In July 2010, Smart City San Diego hosted California Public Utilities Commissioner Mark Ferron for a day long briefing on San Diego’s smart grid initiatives.  The Commissioner met with industry representatives from the solar, energy efficiency, smart grid and technology sectors and toured UC San Diego’s world renowned microgrid.  The collaborative held a roundtable with the Commissioner to brief him on the vision and work of Smart City San Diego.

Solar Decathlon 2013 Finalist: The City of San Diego and UC San Diego worked with the Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon Committee to make San Diego one of two finalists for the location of the 2013 Solar Decathlon. The event promotes the outreach, education, and economic benefits of energy security, renewable energy and energy efficiency.  If early projections bear out, attendance at the event has the potential to be larger than the San Diego Convention Center’s highest attended conference and create a positive economic impact for the region.

Economic Development and Job Growth: GE worked with CleanTech San Diego and SDG&E to host a GE Sourcing Supplier Diversity event for the first time in San Diego.  Over 50 diverse local suppliers participated in one-on-one sessions with GE buyers to learn how best to work with GE and be considered for future projects.

“GE is proud to bring our grid modernization technology and expertise to Smart City San Diego,” said Mark Hura, global smart grid commercial Leader for GE’s Digital Energy business.  ”An efficient, reliable and sustainable electric infrastructure is essential to powering economic growth and supporting business, industry and the dynamic lifestyles of a skilled workforce.  We applaud all the successes over the past year and look forward to many more to come.”

Formed in January 2011, Smart City San Diego was charged with bringing together leading organizations from government, business, education and non-profit to maximize synergies to drive sustainability programs forward, identify new opportunities, embrace additional collaborators, and move the San Diego region beyond today’s boundaries of sustainability.  This model will be able to be duplicated in other regions.

The collaborative leverages its strengths and resources as a partnership to develop and implement local initiatives that will empower consumers, improve environmental quality, drive economic growth, and reduce the San Diego region’s reliance on oil.  The collaborative is working toward a more consumer-focused, environmentally conscious energy future by addressing San Diegan’s 21st century energy needs.

Click here for the Smart City San Diego website

On Thursday June 9th CleanTECH San Diego’s Electric Vehicle Showcase will be the latest event focused on San Diego’s position at the front line of the largest transportation electrification project in history.  What’s so special about San Diego?

San Diego has a culture of technology early adapters.  San Diego has been one of the top markets for hybrid EVs like the Toyota Prius.  California ranks first in Prii sales and second only to Vermont in Prii Per Capita.  (Yes, the plural is Prii).  Hybrid EV owners are predisposed to consider plug-in EVs.

San Diego is one of 16 cities selected under a DOE grant headed by ECOtality to implement the largest-ever rollout of electric vehicle infrastructure.  Federal grants plus matching funds will total $230 million.

Because the ultimate utility of EVs is tied to the establishment of a charging infrastructure, Nissan, Chevy, Ford and others have focused on a limited number of metropolitan regions including San Diego.

San Diego is the #1 solar city in the #1 solar state.  40 percent of Leaf owners have solar panels according to the California Center for Sustainable Energy (Source North County Times). 

San Diego’s terrain and climate is less taxing on EV batteries than much of the U.S.

Successful integration of EVs to the grid is a task of great complexity.  For the past two years, San Diego Gas & Electric’s advancements in smart grid infrastructure has earned them recognition as the most intelligent utility in America by IDC Energy Insights and Intelligent Utility magazine. 

General Electric has partnered with the City of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric, the University of California San Diego and CleanTECH San Diego in Smart City San Diego, a public-private collaboration that aims to improve the region’s energy independence, empower consumers to adopt electric vehicles, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and drive economic growth.

To boost use of electric vehicles, the General Services Administration is installing charging stations for government vehicles in San Diego and four other cities.

The University of California, San Diego has been at the center of several major initiatives which are contributing to the region’s growth as a clean energy center.  The EVs which will be used by students, faculty and staff will form a living laboratory of human behavior and technology.

Qualcomm and ECOtality have entered into an agreement to implement cellular connectivity into charging stations. The solution will allow ECOtality to use a commercial cellular network to manage its Blink brand charging station operations, transfer usage data, download firmware updates and publish availability to electric vehicle drivers in real time.

CleanTECH San Diego is an important nexus for regional clean technologies of all types.  You can click through to their website to learn about their crucial mission.  While you are there you can register for the CleanTECH San Diego Electric Vehicle Showcase.  Indy 500 legend and electric vehicle convert Danny Sullivan will be the keynote speaker.  UC San Diego’s Byron Washom will lead a panel including the CEO of Flux Power, Chris Anthony and General Electric’s Michelle Lesh.  Held on the LEED Silver certified Port Pavilion on the Broadway Pier, the Showcase will include a variety of demonstrations of EV technologies and cars. 

Show up on Thursday with a fistful of business cards to network harborside and kick the tires of the EVs that are in the poll position in the race for energy efficient transportation.  Register here today. 

CleanTECH San Diego’s Electric Vehicle Showcase

Date: Thursday June 9, 2011    4 PM to 7 PM

Port Pavillion on Broadway Pier
1000 North Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

Click here to view Danny Sullivan’s classic moment in Indy 500 history.

Today I attended a media event held to announce a major Smart Grid coalition formed by San Diego Gas & Electric with CleanTECH San Diego, UC San Diego and two dozen other entities including tech giants Qualcomm, IBM, Intel, Cisco, and a local rising star, On-Ramp Wireless.  The San Diego coalition is seeking $100 million of federal stimulus funds for smart grid development to benefit the region and to serve as a prototype project for the rest of the world to model.

In August, SDG&E’s parent, Sempra Energy, was recognized by IDC Energy Insights and Intelligent Utility magazine as the #1 “intelligent utility” in the nation in recognition of their work to move their customer base to smart meters. 

General Electric, a member of the coalition, launched “It’s Your Smart Grid”, an interactive educational website.  It is extremely well done.  We need the same for all other categories of clean technology.   Check out “It’s Your Smart Grid”.