SMUD is making good progress on our journey to remove carbon emissions from our power supply by 2030 – and everyone here is playing a unique role in making it happen. Our new employee blog features the personal perspectives of employees from different disciplines and departments across SMUD, each sharing how their work connects to our 2030 Clean Energy Vision.
When I’m out to dinner and people ask me what I do, I usually start with an air conditioner. I explain that some A/Cs are better than others and that SMUD has programs to help customers choose better air conditioners – ones that help save energy, money and reduce carbon emissions. I share how these programs incentivize customers to use electricity in more efficient ways and that my job is to keep track of the incentives and the benefits to SMUD.
Then, I usually have to buy the table a round of drinks…or wake them back up.
That’s what it’s like to be a Product Owner for the 2030 Zero Carbon Plan Agile team.
I serve the Agile team by coordinating, researching and testing software changes for our customer relationship management system and other interconnected systems that support our Distributed Energy Solutions Department.
Our department works on all of SMUD’s green, energy efficiency and decarbonization programs. Often, these are programs that generate an incentive payment to the customer for participating – programs like the Commercial EV Program, PowerDirect and Charge@Home.
For example, for the Charge@Home program, we make sure customers receive their rebate check. You could say we’re the team directly helping customers save money and electricity, as well as lowering their carbon footprint.
I boil it down to “energy use decisions” – ones that support SMUD’s goals of bringing our customers on our 2030 Zero Carbon Plan journey. They also mean something to me personally. Our zero-carbon work is part of my purpose because it’s about building hope for the future. With fresh evidence every season that climate change is happening, I see the work of my team as a response to that, sprinkling seeds of hope into Sacramento’s future.
I believe SMUD’s sterling reputation matters, so how we deliver our programs is very important to me. I’m proud that every day our team is empowering customers to make decisions that are proven to deliver community benefits – like building and transportation electrification. These actions help customers adapt their modern lives to reduce greenhouse gases in our region and in our world.
Now of course, my work is much humbler than these lofty aspirations would imply: the day-to-day involves management in our project tracking system and a regular cadence of meetings to coordinate my Agile team with the other Agile teams. That means keeping the work orderly and the process smooth.
But, when I take the time to really think about what our efforts mean on a larger scale, I’m so thankful for this opportunity to align my work with my values, with caring for people. When it comes to clean energy, I’m all in.
I do wish we could do even more and move faster to decarbonize the Sacramento region so everyone can live in a clean energy future today. I see that technology needs time to advance and resources are not unlimited. At the same time, I also see that zero carbon work, in the long run, is the most important work we can do, and I’m proud to be doing it.
I am hopeful that we’ll reach zero carbon by 2030 and that we’ll continue to build a wise plan beyond 2030 that continues to balance the needs of the earth and our Sacramento community.
