Southern California Edison and Toronto-based Alectra Utilities Join the California Mobility Center’s Fast Growing Member Roster

These leading U.S. and Canadian utility companies add energy and grid expertise to the CMC’s expanding Member and Preferred Service Provider network

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The California Mobility Center (CMC) announced today that Southern California Edison and Alectra Utilities have signed Member agreements with the CMC. The innovative evolution of the energy grid and renewable resources are key success factors for future mobility. Both companies will be represented on the board of directors.

Alectra Utilities’ CEO Brian Bentz and Caroline Choi, senior vice president of Corporate Affairs at Southern California Edison (SCE) and its parent company, Edison International (EIX), join the CMC’s Board of Directors, which is comprised of some of the most prominent leaders and innovators in the future mobility industry.

“We are thrilled to welcome Southern California Edison and Alectra Utilities as the CMC’s newest Members and look forward to the insights that Brian and Caroline will bring to our board,” said CMC Board Chair Arlen Orchard. “We are proud that our Member base continues to increase representation and range across multiple industries required to accelerate the pace of future mobility commercialization.”

Electric vehicles (EVs) and increasing adoption of EV mobility options are creating huge growth opportunities for electric utilities that provide fuel for this transportation sector. EVs also present an opportunity for electric utilities to utilize EVs as a resource to manage load, thereby increasing the reliability of the grid.

Alectra Utilities is the largest municipally-owned utility company in Canada. While providing power and related services to more than four million customers in Ontario's Greater Golden Horseshoe Area and Central Ontario, Alectra is also actively working to reform and innovate the entire electric utility sector. The company is widely recognized as an emergent international leader in future mobility investments and technology innovations, particularly around progressive distributive energy and electric transportation solutions.

“We are passionate about championing innovation and embracing industry-leading technologies that will shape the future of energy,” said Alectra CEO Brian Bentz. “We believe our partnership with the California Mobility Center provides an opening for Alectra to glean lessons from California’s experience and progressive policies surrounding clean energy technologies and can enable the utility industry as a whole to fast-track new possibilities and investments that meet the demands of an ever-changing energy landscape.”

Caroline Choi oversees SCE’s Corporate Communications, Corporate Philanthropy, Government Affairs, and Public Affairs on national, state, and local levels. She has extensive experience and influence in national policy, clean energy deployment, and accelerating the shift to electric transportation through public-private collaboration and public engagement.

“From the perspective of regulatory, policy, and new technologies, joining the CMC ecosystem is a logical extension of SCE’s energy and environmental portfolio, and we are excited to engage,” said Choi. “We intend to leverage the best practices, innovation advancements, and thought leadership that the CMC uniquely provides, tap into the CMC’s extensive Member and Preferred Service Provider network, and lend our state and national relationships to accelerate future mobility systems across North America and the globe.”

Choi is a member of the Public Policy Institute of California’s Statewide Leadership Council and serves on the boards of the Electric Transportation Community Development Corporation, Smart Electric Power Alliance, a nationwide organization that supports the implementation and deployment of clean energy and distributed resources and chairs the board of Veloz, a nonprofit that brings the public and private sectors together to promote electric vehicle awareness and adoption.

The CMC is a nonprofit, public-private entity that provides future mobility innovators and industry incumbents with access to programs and resources to accelerate the pace of commercialization in California and worldwide. The CMC is was founded by global thought leaders in clean technology innovation including EnerTech Capital, a venture capital firm with a focus on electrification, autonomy, smart mobility, and connectivity; PEM Motion, a consulting and engineering company that originated in Germany with a focus on sustainable technology; and Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is a founding partner and investor that leads the way in electric vehicle (EV) testing, development, and deployment of EVs in the Sacramento Region.

About CMC: The California Mobility Center (CMC) is a public-private partnership led by global thought leaders in clean technology innovation. The CMC aspires to be the leading global innovation and commercialization center for future mobility, strategically located in Sacramento. Its location puts the CMC in close proximity to world-class educational institutions, leaders in clean mobile technology, award winning utilities and to California government that leads the United States and the world in producing policies around green mobility and technology. For more information visit californiamobilitycenter.org.