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Women of Distinction

After working for various firms together, The next endeavor was truly a pioneer- path to becoming utility industry specialists
Omneya and Luis decided that they were ing effort as they were brought on board for in this area. The growth continued when
ready to go out on their own and in 2015 SDG&E’s Power Your Drive program geared in 2018 Nicole Alarcon, VP of Program
they established a joint venture. Initially, they to support the electric vehicle infrastruc- Development, met with members of Pacific
focused on the enhancement of cognitive ture within SDG&E’s service territory. The Gas & Electric’s electric vehicle program
health and the nootropic industry, eventually program approved by the CPUC (California team to share key learnings from various
incorporating their passion for continual im- Public Utility Commission) as a result of a phases of similar programs as they were in
provement and research into a line of noo- Senate bill that was signed back in 2010, was the initial launch of their pilot program sup-
tropics. Omneya adds, “Although we loved designed to increase charging availability in porting light duty EV infrastructure. PG&E
doing the work with these brain enhancing workplace locations and multi-dwelling liv- gave C2 the notice to proceed to support
products, it still wasn’t fulfilling the needs we ing units, at a minimal cost to the businesses the electric vehicle program in their service
had to make a change in the world.” or property owners where they were built. territory. With a proven record of success,
C2 Group has grown its scope of work to
include initial site assessments, preliminary
design, consulting with PG&E’s customers
on feasibility, civil & electrical engineering,
and permitting. In addition to their support
on PG&E’s EV Charge Network Program,
they are also supporting the EV Charge
Fleet program, geared towards the build-out
of charging infrastructure for medium and
heavy-duty vehicles.
The depth of experience supporting
California’s transportation electrification
programs has provided C2 Group with the
unique ability to serve as a trusted resource
for other utilities or agencies looking for
effective solutions to further their sustain-
ability initiatives. From sharing insights
and candid feedback on implementation
hurdles at industry conferences to hosting
One day Luis got a phone call from California was the first in the nation to have EV workshops, the team is passionate about
Molly Amendt, a project manager at such a bill passed. With their multi-disci- furthering electric vehicle adoption and
SDG&E at the time, who had worked with plined team, they supported the implemen- supporting the infrastructure growth that is
Luis on previous projects together and tation and oversight of all aspects of the needed to support it.
understood his ability to solve the most Power Your Drive program from customer I asked Nicole Alarcon if she could give
complex of issues. After the 2007 Wildfires onboarding, site assessment, engineering, me a concise explanation of what makes
in San Diego, SDG&E started the Fire Risk construction, and program analytics. C2 Group unique. “We are an engineering
Mitigation program to replace wood utility Seeing the unique potential for both company that uses technology to create in-
poles in high-risk fire areas with steel poles. personal and professional growth, Molly novative and scalable solutions. So, depend-
It was a massive undertaking even for later joined C2 Group bringing added depth ing on if it’s a small project or a big one, we
someone as brilliant as Molly, so she called to the leadership team with her program have scalability. We are agile because we are
Luis and said, “I know who you are and how management experience, engineering a small business and can mobilize quick-
you work, and I need help.” Omneya, Molly, experience, and utility industry background. ly to integrate different technologies that
and Luis congregated in their makeshift “Molly now leads all EV Programs for our often are stalled by red tape within larger
garage office, throwing ideas back and forth. clients across the western states, as VP of organizations. What is extremely important
After realizing that their help was essential Clean Transportation, and runs the engi- is the time we take to listen to our clients.
to the successful completion of this proj- neering division within C2 to provide the We create a collaborative relationship with
ect, Molly was able to convince one of the technical support and know-how to our cli- them throughout the project, we don’t refer
companies involved to hire the C2 Group ents to successfully execute their programs to them as clients, but instead as client-part-
on as consultants to support the implemen- and fully honor their commitments to the ners. When we have come up with the
tation of this critical program. This was the Public Utility Commission.” solution, we hand it over to them internally
catalyst to their whirlwind growth as they The experience in program-wide so that they can build their teams, and we
established not only their technical acumen process development and implementation are on to our next project.”
but also their unique ability to work through provided extensive insight into the still-de- Aside from all of the brilliance within
complex programs and drive results within veloping transportation electrification mar- this firm I genuinely believe that one of the
multiple disciplines and workgroups. ket, setting the foundation for C2 Group’s best parts of the C2 Group is their ability

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