TS Helps Pico Rivera Innovative Municipal Energy (PRIME) Announce New Distributed Energy Resources and Streetlight Conversion Programs
A member of longtime Tripepi Smith VIP California Choice Energy Authority (CalChoice), Pico Rivera 
Innovative Municipal Energy (PRIME) chose Tripepi Smith when looking for a partner to help announce a new program that will provide energy costs savings to customers, stimulate local economic development, and increase local control.
“Distributed Energy Resources (DER) are an innovative new resource in the municipal energy market,” said Patsy Gonzales, Secretary for the City of Pico Rivera. “When the time came to announce our new program, we turned to Tripepi Smith, CalChoice’s preferred communications partner, because we know that they would not only understand the complex technical specifications but also effectively share the program’s benefits with our community. It’s always a pleasure working with the Tripepi Smith team.”
The City of Pico Rivera has identified 26 municipal facilities and school district sites that will be considered for hosting DERs: small, localized electric generation systems. These modular systems—such as rooftop solar, battery storage, and electric vehicle chargers—connect directly to the grid that delivers electricity from producers to consumers.
Tripepi Smith also drafted a news release for Pico Rivera’s recent Streetlight Conversion Project, as part of which the City will acquire local streetlights from Southern California Edison (SCE) and upgrade more than 3,000 lights to brighter, more efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) fixtures. PRIME will continue to supply 100 percent renewable energy to the City’s streetlights through PRIME Future. The new LED technology is expected to save Pico Rivera over 1,475,000 kilowatt hours and approximately $322,000 in energy costs in the first year after installation. As a PRIME Future customer, the City will also continue on the path to meet California’s state mandated goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2045.
CalChoice helps cities in Southern California Edison territory participate in Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) without sacrificing key control or taking on the liability of a single entity CCA. Founding members Lancaster Choice Energy and San Jacinto Power have expanded to include the cities of Baldwin Park, Pico Rivera, Pomona and Rancho Mirage, and the Town of Apple Valley.
Tripepi Smith has provided marketing support to CalChoice since 2017. Over the last few years, Director of Operations Katherine Griffiths and Business Analyst Karen Villaseñor have led the engagement, developing the group’s marketing plan, launching its newsletter and writing dozens of articles and press releases. Katherine and Karen have also tapped other members of Team Tripepi Smith, including Melanie James, Sara Madsen, Cameron Grimm, Skylar Hunter and Saara Lampwalla, for an array of website development, graphic design and video projects. In 2019, CalChoice asked Tripepi Smith to create a video series spotlighting its member agencies, including the Town of Apple Valley, the City of Lancaster, the City of Pico Rivera, the City of Rancho Mirage and the City of San Jacinto. That series will continue this fall, with the cities of Baldwin Park and Pomona launching in October.
Katherine Griffiths was lead researcher and writer for PRIME’s news releases.
“We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to support PRIME’s announcements,” said Katherine. “Celebrating associate members’ successes is a core benefit of collaborating with CalChoice that also supports our Tripepi Smith team goal to always be learning.”
About PRIME
Pico Rivera Innovative Municipal Energy (PRIME) is the City of Pico Rivera’s locally run power provider. Pico Rivera promotes power alternatives, resource conservation, and smart energy consumption. With a lofty goal of creating the most innovative, decentralized modern energy platform in the state, PRIME is determined to deliver smarter, cleaner energy programs for its customers, to promote the growth of cleaner energy opportunities, and stimulate local development. PRIME is equally committed to helping both the environment and the local economy. Learn more at poweredbyprime.org.
About Tripepi Smith
Tripepi Smith is a California-based marketing, technology and public affairs firm that serves for-profit, nonprofit and public agencies. Its unique mix of marketing and technology prowess provides a competitive advantage to agencies seeking to leverage the internet to achieve their communication goals. The firm provides full content creation services, including: ghost writing, collateral development, photography, video production, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing campaigns and website design and execution. Tripepi Smith clients include: City of American Canyon, City of Culver City, City of Cupertino, City of Daly City, City of Duarte, City of El Cerrito, City of Indian Wells, City of La Cañada Flintridge, City of Lakeport, City of Lake Forest, City of Napa, City of Paramount, City of Santa Cruz, City of Tracy, City of Vallejo, Cal Choice Energy Authority, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Rowland Water District, California Contract Cities Association, California City Management Foundation, Institute for Local Government, League of California Cities, Renne Public Law Group, Bob Hall & Associates and Climatec Energy Services.