Shawn Marshall
Peninsula Clean Energy is promoting COO Shawn Marshall as CEO to replace the retiring Jan Pepper, with final board approval expected at its June 22 meeting.
Marshall was first appointed COO of the joint powers agency in 2022 and believes the leadership transition will be seamless thanks to PCE’s solid team and organization.
“I am very excited about it,” Marshall said. “I feel ready to go. I feel appropriately humbled by the task in front of me, so I do not take it for granted, and I am aware of the big shoes I have to fill.
Peninsula Clean Energy was created in 2016 by San Mateo County cities to provide energy to the area. As a community choice aggregation organization, its goal is to provide clean, renewable energy at lower prices than Pacific Gas and Electric and invest proceeds to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. PCE generates electricity from its sources, and PG&E delivers it through its infrastructure, with PG&E still providing billing services.
Marshall previously helped launch Marin Energy Authority in 2010, now called MCE Clean Energy, the first community choice aggregation program in California. She also served as mayor of Mill Valley in Marin County and was the director of CCA Market Development and External Affairs at Calpine Energy Solutions. Marshall’s annual salary will be $375,000, with a yearly bonus possible of up to $25,000, according to a PCE staff report.
Marshall said PCE has a healthy financial outlook and has never been stronger, leading to a desire to grow its team of around 40 people to implement policy initiatives. Marshall says the goal of PCE is to add more staff for future initiatives like increasing decarbonization efforts and becoming net neutral by 2035. PCE also wants to expand work in policy around solar energy and battery storage. Marshall said PCE is running a cost-of-service study looking at the feasibility of further reducing customer costs around service rates. PCE currently tries to price its electricity rates 5% below PG&E rates so customers can have reduced rates.
“I really feel my role here is to build on the great work of Jan and the team and move us into the next phase of our growth and development,” Marshall said.
Pepper has led the organization since 2016, and her last day is June 30, although she is also taking on a part-time role as a consultant for several months to work on special projects. She has been in the renewable energy industry for decades and believes Peninsula Clean Energy is showing the world people can have clean electricity and reduce costs.
“I’m very proud of what we accomplished, and when I think back on what we started back in 2016 as the first employee, I’m really pleased with where we are, and this was really my dream job to do a startup public agency focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the delivery of clean electricity,” Pepper said.
Pepper said her journey has been amazing thanks to the board and community support for clean electricity. She noted there are now 24 to 25 community choice aggregation programs in the state, compared to five when she started in 2016.
“People are very forward-thinking here,” Pepper said of San Mateo County. “They are not afraid to try new things. That’s been really amazing.”
Marshall expects to start a new COO search in the coming months.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
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(2) comments
says "generates energy from its sources." What are the sources?
Peninsula Clean Energy is neither generating, nor sourcing, nor supplying any type of energy to San Mateo County and certainly not green one. PCE's main purpose is to 'greenwash' San Mateo's GHG emissions.
PCE buys bragging rights to 30 year old carbon-free energy sources like Shasta Hydropower or from Wind and Solar farms built years before 2016 - they year PCE was forced upon us (so much for 'community choice'). Basically right from the start their power sources are missing the most important component called "Additionality".
But to reach California's emissions targets - which could come with financial punishment later - Bay Area counties could have either worked hard or cheat hard. Cheating was easier. So around 2015 these counties decided to start laundering our GHG emissions through the use of CCAs.
Now here is the problem, the "greenwashing" only works with electricity, not with fossil fuels. That is why reach codes were installed in many cities and counties, that is why gas stoves get replaced with electric ones and that is why they really push for EVs.
Because other than that EVs solve almost no other problem.
This greenwashing setup allows local politicians to look progressively green without actually being so. But if local leaders really were "green", you would see more bus and bike lanes around here since 'Transportation' is responsible for over 50% of GHG and other emissions now.
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