San Diego, CA
Electrifying San Diego and Beyond – San Diego Business Journal
SAN DIEGO – San Diego Gas & Electric’s EV Fleet Day on April 19 at its Century Park campus drew companies from San Diego County and beyond that are helping move the state toward a carbon neutral future.
SDG&E hosts the annual event to encourage sustainability and inform fleet operators about how to go about electrifying their vehicles. It also drew industry experts, infrastructure providers, clean tech and clean transportation information, exhibits and on-site vehicles to explore — with some companies offering ride-alongs in electric vehicles, including a school bus.
The state has established a target that 100% of in-state sales of new passenger cars and trucks will be zero-emission by 2035, ramping up the sales requirement for zero-emission passenger vehicles starting with the 2026 model year, to achieve 100% by 2035.
California has set similar goals for medium-duty, heavy-duty and off-road vehicles and equipment operations, moving toward having zero-emission trucks and buses by 2045.
As part of helping companies with the change, SDG&E says it is working to help address the biggest barrier to electrifying – high upfront costs. SDG&E offers financial incentives for installing charging infrastructure.
State voucher incentives such as California Hybrid and Zero-emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project and its Innovative Small E-Fleet pilot also help business operators, municipalities and school districts transition to electric and deploy all-electric vehicles at a fraction of the cost.
Locals are Invested and Vested
Geared toward San Diego County fleet managers who operate medium-and heavy-duty vehicles, Fleet Day drew companies with vested interests in electrification.
Local vendors included Eversun Energy Inc., a Bay Park-headquartered business that makes portable, sustainable light towers powered by the sun and rechargeable batteries, and Pro Energy Services LLC out of Escondido, which provides services to companies in the electrical distribution and transmission industries.
CEO
Eversun Energy Inc.
Eversun has created light towers that offer 30,000 square feet of illumination, which it hopes will appeal to utility companies, construction sectors and beyond, says Eversun founder Austin Vawter.
Part of the Southern California Energy Innovation Network (SCEIN), a program for startups developing solutions to help California meet its energy goals, Vawter, an engineer, started Eversun in 2018 while searching for a way to keep sports courts lit up at night.
Vawter came up with idea of creating portable lighting using sustainable parts so that he and his friends could continue playing volleyball on the sand at Mission Beach when the sun set.
Beginning as “a telescopic flagpole, golf cart batteries and cheap headlights all wired up,” the product grew to include a modified electric bike battery that made the light tower quieter, put out less pollution and was more portable.
The towers have become streamlined and more sustainable, made with carbon fiber, using lumen LED lamps and a lithium-ion battery system, moving from a consumer-driven sporting goods-type company to a B2B.
Eversun has evolved into making larger light towers that it hopes will appeal to construction crews working into the wee hours, companies working on freeways and first responders.
“The customers we’re going after are moving into clean energy space,” Vawter said.
“There are tons of projects that operate at night in construction, and especially with the heat and the climate change it’s just getting hotter and hotter during the summer.
They’re going to have to shift work at night and then in the wintertime it gets darker earlier, so their daytime shifts are shorter.”
Readying for the Future Today
Pro Energy Services CEO Gavin Nechochea said his company handles all services everything related to utility infrastructure “except putting the pole on the wire,” and works with SDG&E and other utility companies as well as contractors.
CEO
Pro Energy Services Group LLC
A partnership of 2009-founded Warren James Construction and Pro Tool and Equipment Inc., it has grown from 50 employees when it began as its own company in 2018 to nearly 500 employees.
Necochea said his company recently invested in nearly a dozen electric vehicles for its fleet, looking to be a leader working toward meeting state mandates.
“What we’re noticing in electrifying everything is that train that has already left the station and it is it is barreling down the tracks, and if you don’t get with that program, it’s going be real hard to compete at some level, especially here in California,” Necochea said. “There’s opportunity everywhere so you have to be ready to be able to pivot to be able to jump to these different opportunities that pop up.
“We don’t worry about what’s happened or why they’ve done it or the reasons behind it, we just embrace the change.”
Pro Energy Services Group LLC
FOUNDED: 2018 (earlier versions in 2009)
CEO: Gavin Necochea
HEADQUARTERS: Escondido
BUSINESS: Utility-Based Services
REVENUE: from 2018-2020 30% YOY growth
EMPLOYEES: 450
WEBSITE: proeservices.com
CONTACT: 760-744-7077
SOCIAL IMPACT: CEO Necochea is a member of and has done some mentorship with the Latino Business Action Network.
NOTABLE: Roots of the company and Warren James Construction and Pro Tool and Equipment Inc., both San Diego-based companies.
Eversun Energy Inc.
FOUNDED: 2019
CEO: Austin Vawter
HEADQUARTERS: San Diego
BUSINESS: Renewable Energy Equipment Manufacturing
FUNDING: Currently in $2.5M Series A; first VC investment of $300,000 in 2023
EMPLOYEES: 3
WEBSITE: eversun.io
CONTACT: 858-480-9671
SOCIAL IMPACT: Company’s sustainable lighting that helps others be energy efficient
NOTABLE: CEO Vawter is developed the first prototype of Eversun’s product so he and his friends could play beach volleyball after sunset
The U.S. military identified a Minnesota Marine stationed in Southern California who went missing off San Diego last week, and confirmed his death.
Lance Cpl. Armando Ortiz Canseco was declared deceased Saturday. It is believed he was lost at sea after a training exercise.
“On behalf of the Marines and sailors of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Lance Cpl. Ortiz Canseco,” Col. Richard Alvarez, the commanding officer of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said in a statement.
Ortiz Canseco was reported missing from the amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage early Thursday morning. His disappearance resulted in an extensive search and rescue operation, with efforts beginning around 1:20 a.m. Thursday.
The search spanned roughly 2,400 square miles and involved officials from the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force who used three surface ships and 12 aircraft, according to the military.
The Marine went missing during a training operation involving the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group.
After nearly two full days of searching, the Navy transitioned to recovery operations.
“He earned the title of United States Marine and served his country with honor and commitment,” Alvarez said. “We mourn alongside his family, and we remain committed to bringing him home.”
This incident marks the second time in recent weeks that the U.S. military has searched for missing service members.
The remains of two Army soldiers who went missing while off duty from military exercises in Morocco were recovered in May, according to the Army.
Officials did not initially identify Ortiz Canseco on Thursday or disclose the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, saying his family needed to be notified first.
His death continues to be under investigation.
Ortiz Canseco enlisted in the Marine Corps in April 2023 and reported for training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
His individual awards include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
Times staff writer Alene Tchekmedyian contributed to this report.
Blink, and you might miss it.
Adobe Falls isn’t Niagara Falls — or anything close — but after winter rains, a seasonal waterfall briefly appears in a narrow Del Cerro canyon, hidden beneath streets, homes, and San Diego State University property.
The waterfall forms along Alvarado Creek, which drains parts of eastern San Diego, including the SDSU area and surrounding neighborhoods. In wet months, runoff moves through a steep canyon and drops over a short rock ledge known locally as Adobe Falls. In dry periods, the flow often fades to a trickle or disappears entirely, leaving exposed sandstone and a shaded canyon bed.
What makes the site stand out is its setting. Above the canyon are Del Cerro residential streets and university property tied to San Diego State. Below it, Alvarado Creek continues west as part of the Mission Valley watershed, eventually feeding into the San Diego River system. Like many urban drainages in San Diego, its flow is shaped by stormwater runoff, paved surfaces, and altered drainage patterns tied to development.
Access is restricted. The canyon sits on a mix of SDSU and city-managed land and has long been closed to the public due to safety concerns, including steep terrain, erosion, and unstable footing after rain. Although widely referenced in maps and online posts, it is not an official trail or recreation site.
The canyon itself pre-dates modern development in Del Cerro. It is part of a broader network of inland waterways and canyon corridors used for thousands of years by the Kumeyaay, whose presence shaped movement and settlement patterns across the region.
In the mid-20th century, as Del Cerro developed, homes and roads were built along canyon rims rather than through them, leaving Alvarado Creek intact as a drainage system. Adobe Falls remained within that corridor even as surrounding hillsides filled with residential and institutional development.
Today, Adobe Falls remains a small but persistent reminder that San Diego’s natural drainage systems still function within a heavily built environment — appearing briefly after storms, then receding back into the canyon until the next rain.
Read more history stories here, and do you have a story to tell? Send an email to DebbieSklar@cox.net.
Sources:
City of San Diego – Stormwater & Watershed Division (Alvarado Creek / Mission Valley watershed)
San Diego State University – planning and environmental impact documentation for adjacent canyon areas
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – San Diego County watershed and hydrology mapping (Alvarado Creek / San Diego River system context)
San Diego History Center – Kumeyaay regional land use and inland canyon corridor history
City of San Diego Planning Department – land use records and access restrictions for Adobe Falls area
California State Historic Landmark files – Adobe Falls (Landmark No. 80)
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