October 1, 2022
Location: CHERP Solar Works
On October 1st, 2022, CHERP hosted the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) Task Force Quarterly meeting at their factory in Pomona. During this meeting, they announced their LA Factories for the Future initiative, which aims to help satisfy Goal 7A of the LA County Sustainability Plan – the creation of 10 GW of new renewable distributed energy by 2045. Achieving 10 GW of new renewable energy production requires 30 million new solar panels at a cost of $5 billion dollars that will leave the LA economy to countries overseas unless the panels are made locally. The Solution? Create 15 non-profit, micro solar factories located in the heart of our most disadvantaged communities in LA County. The event laid out CHERP’s vision for this exciting initiative in more detail and provided an update on where the Pomona Factory is in terms of starting production, featuring messages from community partners, and local and regional elected officials. It also highlighted the amazing students from Harvey Mudd College, Pomona College, and Cal Poly Pomona who are helping lay the groundwork for starting these 15 new factories in LA County during their fall 2022 semester as part of a Pando Days project.
Program: 12:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Speakers and facilitators:
- Heidrun Mumper-Drumm – Chair of LA’s Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) Strategic Taskforce
- Devon Hartman – President & CEO, CHERP
- California Congresswoman Judy Chu – 27th Congressional District
- Kent Kernahan – Managing Member, idealPV™ and the inventor of the technology being used in CHERP’s solar modules
- Claremont Mayor Jed Leano
- Howard Choy – LA County sustainability and energy expert
- Pomona City Councilman John Nolte
- Megan Anderson – Director of Admin & Workforce Development Project Manager, CHERP
- LA Factories for the Future Project Student Team Members from Harvey Mudd, Cal Poly Pomona, and Pomona College who are working with CHERP through a Pando Days project
