A Cleaner, Greener Future

Lora Anguay
Sacramento State (2013)

In April 2021, the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD)—a community-owned, not-for profit electricity provider—developed a plan to eliminate carbon emissions from its power supply by 2030. That June, after working at SMUD for almost two decades, Lora Anguay was named the utility’s first Chief Zero Carbon Officer to implement its Zero Carbon Plan.

The work includes the design, construction, maintenance and transition of SMUD’s power generation assets; the sale and procurement of energy resources; design and implementation of the customer program; and securing grants and partnerships.

“I have been extremely happy with SMUD as a company and our commitment to the customers and communities in which we serve,” Anguay says. “Our Zero Carbon Plan is another way that SMUD is ensuring that we do the ‘right thing’ not only for our customers today but also for future generations.”

Anguay’s career started with five years of service in the United States Coast Guard. Then after several years at a technology company, she transitioned to her first role at SMUD as a cost schedule specialist in 2004. She’s since moved up the ranks at SMUD, but it also set her on track to earn her bachelor’s degree in business administration, general management from Sacramento State in 2013.

“While working full-time at SMUD and raising a family, I was fortunate enough to have a mentor that encouraged me to go back to school and obtain my degree,” she says. “It has helped to open up opportunities that I would not have had if I had not completed my schooling.”

Alejandro Cervantes
San Diego State (2015), Cal Poly Humboldt (2020)

After earning his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at San Diego State, Alejandro Cervantes moved to Northern California to pursue his master’s degree in environmental resources engineering.

“I pursued a career in renewable energy because it is an innovative industry that focuses on climate change, clean energy and improving human and ecosystem health,” Cervantes says. “The academic experiences and interpersonal interactions with students and mentors at Cal Poly Humboldt helped me value my career in renewable energy. Completing engineering projects [for academic courses] also helped train me for future tasks and roles I have encountered in my career … [while] interacting with a diverse student and faculty body helped me mature as a person and as a professional engineer.”

During his master’s program, Cervantes was introduced to the Schatz Energy Research Center, which is dedicated to promoting the use of renewable energy, located on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus and affiliated with its environmental resources engineering program. After graduation, he landed a job with the center as a research engineer.

In his role, he has contributed to zero-emission transit design, decarbonization of heating systems and the Vera​Sol quality assurance program, which ensures quality assurance and consumer protection for solar home systems in global locations like sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Middle East.

Learn more about the impact of the CSU’s four million-strong alumni network.