Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.
Gage Forster
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.
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.”
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
San Diego Padres (14-7) at Los Angeles Angels (11-11), April 19, 2026, 1:07 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Angel Stadium – Anaheim, Calif.
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
Advertisement
Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
Remember Gaslamp Ball is basically a non-profanity site
Out of respect to broadcast partners who have paid to carry the game, no mentions of “alternative” (read: illegal) viewing methods are allowed in our threads
Sign up for a user account and get:
Comment on articles, community posts
Rec comments, community posts
New, improved notifications system!
SANDY, Utah — SANDY, Utah (AP) — Sergi Solans had two goals and an assist, Diego Luna added a goal and two assists, and Real Salt Lake beat San Diego FC 4-2 on Saturday night to extend its unbeaten streak to six games.
Morgan Guilavogui scored his first goal in MLS and had an assist for Real Salt Lake (5-1-1). The 28-year-old designated player has five goal contributions in his first six career games.
RSL hasn’t lost since a 1-0 defeat at Vancouver in the season opener.
San Diego (3-3-2) has lost three in a row and is winless in five straight.
Luna opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he re-directed a misplayed pass by Duran Ferree, San Diego’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, into the net.
Moments later, Solans headed home a perfectly-placed cross played by Luna from outside the right corner of the 18-yard box to the back post to make it 2-0. Solans, a 23-year-old forward, flicked a header from the center of the area inside the right post and past the outstretched arm of Ferree to make it 3-1 in the 37th minute.
Guilavogui slammed home a first-touch shot to give RSL a three-goal lead in the 45th.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored a goal in the 14th minute and Anders Dreyer converted from the penalty spot in the 66th for San Diego.
Ingvartsen has five goals and an assist this season and has 10 goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in 16 career MLS appearances.
Rafael Cabral had three saves for RSL.
Ferree finished with five saves.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
When John Resnick opened Campfire on a quaint little street in Carlsbad, Calif., in 2016, some locals weren’t sure what to think. The coastal enclave wasn’t exactly awash in innovative, chef-driven establishments, so it was a shock to see the dining room consistently full. Early on, one woman wondered aloud to Resnick, “Where did all these people come from?”
It’s a moment he remembers vividly. “I was struck by her statement, because I think she was surprised that so many other people in Carlsbad were there,” Resnick says.
The rest of the culinary world would take some time to catch up to what was happening. In 2019, when Michelin expanded to rate restaurants throughout all of California—not just the San Francisco area—Addison was the only one in San Diego to earn a star. But since emerging from the pandemic, the region’s food scene has grown dramatically. Driven by outstanding farms, ingredients, a bumper crop of talented chefs, and a G.D.P. approximately the size of New Zealand or Greece, San Diego County has become one of America’s most underrated dining destinations.
Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.
Gage Forster
Perhaps no single restaurant is a better emblem for this shift than chef William Bradley’s Addison, which opened in 2006. After landing his first star, Bradley knew he wanted more. To get them, he transformed his French-leaning fare to serve what he calls California Gastronomy, which combines the cultures of SoCal with impeccable ingredients and wildly impressive techniques, prizing flavor over flair. Michelin responded, awarding Addison a second star in 2022, and making it the first Southern California three-star restaurant just a year later. The accolade has created a halo effect, attracting culinary tourists from around the world.
Berry beet tartlets at San Diego’s three-star stalwart Addison.
Eric Wolfinger
“Earning three stars forces the global dining community to pay attention to a place that may not have been on their radar before,” says chef Eric Bost, a partner in Resnick’s four Carlsbad establishments.
Resnick recruited Bost, who spent time at award-winning outposts of Restaurant Guy Savoy, to run Jeune et Jolie, which he led to a star in 2021. They’ve since taken over an old boogie-board factory down the street and converted it to an all-day restaurant and bakery, Wildland. The space also hosts an exquisite tasting-counter experience called Lilo, which was given a Michelin star mere months after opening in April 2025. And as Resnick and Bost grew their successful Carlsbad operation, chef Roberto Alcocer earned a Michelin star for his Mexican fine-dining spot Valle in nearby Oceanside.
The stylish tasting counter at Michelin one-star Lilo in Carlsbad.
Kimberly Motos
About 25 miles to the south, another affluent coastal community is going through its own culinary glow up. In La Jolla, chef Tara Monsod and the hospitality group Puffer Malarkey Collective opened the stylish French steakhouse Le Coq. Chef Erik Anderson, formerly of Michelin two-star Coi, is preparing to launch Roseacre. And last year, Per Se alums Elijah Arizmendi and Brian Hung left New York to open the elegant tasting-menu restaurant Lucien, lured by the ingredients they’d get to serve. “A major reason we chose San Diego is the quality and diversity of the produce,” Arizmendi explains. “San Diego County has more small farms than anywhere else in the U.S., and its many microclimates allow farmers to grow an incredible range of ingredients year-round.”
Wildland’s spicy Italian sandwich.
Gage Forster
Chef Travis Swikard has also been a tireless advocate for the region’s ingredients since he returned to San Diego, his hometown, and opened Mediterranean-influenced Callie in 2021. There’s no sophomore slump with his latest effort, the French Riviera–inspired Fleurette in La Jolla, where he’s serving his take on classics like leeks vinaigrette and his San Diego “Bouillabaisse” with local red sheepshead fish and spiny lobster. Its food is bright, produce-driven, and attentive in execution, while the dining room maintains a relaxed and unpretentious style of service. And Swikard sees that approach cohering into a regional style with a strong network of professionals behind it.
“It’s really nice that we are developing our own identity, not trying to be like L.A. or any other market, just highlighting what’s great about the San Diego lifestyle and ingredients,” he says. “Similar to New York, a chef community is starting to develop where chefs are supporting each other. There is a true sense of pride to be cooking here.”
Top: In La Jolla, Lucien serves ocean whitefish with tomatoes turned into concasse, sabayon, and other expressions.
From ‘Steel City’ to ‘eds and meds’: As Pittsburgh welcomes NFL Draft, it isn’t so easily defined anymore
Geoff Duncan campaigns in Augusta ahead of Election Day
The director of the Congressional Budget Office—known for its gloomy national debt data—is very optimistic that a crisis will be avoided entirely | Fortune
3 seriously injured after crash on I-90 in Cleveland: EMS
America 250 celebration: Texans who fought for independence honored in Austin – Texas – The Black Chronicle
Alabama AHSAA softball key dates and top teams approaching the 2026 playoffs
‘We never forgot her’: Friends, family of longtime Alaska teacher gather for 100th birthday celebration
Trying to beat the heat: Addressing rising temperatures in Southern Arizona