GRID Alternatives Central Valley started with six team members and one truck and trailer in the first warehouse. Eight years later, 32 team members strong. Due to explosive growth, GRID Central Valley just finished moving into its fourth location. Since 2009, Tom Esqueda, GRID Executive Director has led his group on an adventure, from working on one install a week, to working on three installs per day. Since inception, GRID Central Valley has focused on helping the many communities it serves. In eight years, we have had the privilege to serve many families in 13 counties served from Kern County to the south, to San Joaquin County to the north. Tom Esqueda said, “My biggest challenge was thinking about how I was going to get community volunteers on installs in the summertime when temperatures reach 100 degrees.”
Today, we celebrate another accomplishment our 1,600th install in the lovely City of Reedley, CA. The sun shined on the Turner family, Allison Turner our qualifying homeowner, like many other of our clients, heard about the program from a relative and made the call. A couple months later she was getting solar installed. Allison welcomed us to her home on August 4, 2017, and as we celebrated this accomplishment, we even had a special visit from Frank Pinon, Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Reedley. Smiles, laughter and joy filled the day as everyone celebrated this milestone. Allison Turner said, “It’s been a struggle, but solar is really going to help me save money, thank you so much.” Vanilla cake helped sweeten the install, but for Allison having her solar system, was icing on the cake.
Rick Gonzales an instructor from Proteus Inc., William M. Maguy School of Education and his job trainees helped install the system. This was the perfect time for students to showcase their solar photovoltaic installation skills as they installed on the home. Through our partnership with Proteus, the William M. Maguy School of Education, teaches students solar photovoltaic installation basics through a six week training course. Thanks to our partners, dedicated volunteers, and home owners GRID Central Valley has been able to reach this milestone in eight years.
Rick Gonzales said, “Since beginning in 2010, our partnership with GRID has been overall a winning situation for the William M. Maguy School of Education, it’s also a winning situation for the community and the environment. It’s truly an honor to be part of this celebration.”
GRID Central Valley’s success reflects the focus and dedication of our Regional Director, Tom Esqueda, who makes the work environment, feel like a family environment. He literally makes it feel like “Mi casa es su casa” and makes you feel like family, and family sticks together. Everyone gets along really well and everyone works together to achieve our stated goals.
So what does 1600th installs mean for the Central Valley? Since 2009, GRID Central Valley has installed over 6.37 Megawatts of rooftop solar. Generating an anticipated $59.5 million expected lifetime savings for our clients, preventing 121,990 tons of greenhouse gasses from entering the air we breathe and reflecting the equivalent of removing 23,300 cars off the road for one year.
GRID Central Valley is always pioneering new adventures, so stay tuned for what is coming up in 2018. You never know, we might be having our 2,000th install in your neighborhood. If you haven’t been part of the GRID Central Valley solar experience yet, we welcome you to come out and try it for yourself.
