
Santa Barbara Energy & Resilience Summit
Overview and Objectives
Santa Barbara County faces an urgent need to strengthen its energy infrastructure against wildfires and related disasters. In recent years, massive wildfires and post-fire events (such as debris flows) have caused extended power outages and even cut off transportation routes. Momentum for resilience efforts surged after these crises but stalled post-election, as attention shifted and leadership changes slowed implementation. We now have a narrow window to regain focus and act decisively. This convening at UC Santa Barbara represents a unique moment to rally key stakeholders—investors, policymakers, utilities, developers, and community leaders—around a common goal: catalyzing a portfolio of energy resilience projects.
The objectives of this event are clear and pressing:
Reframe the Urgency: Underscore the growing wildfire threat and grid vulnerability in Santa Barbara to make clear that energy resilience efforts cannot wait.
Reignite Momentum: Re-establish commitment to previously supported projects by aligning stakeholders around a shared and urgent vision for action.
Catalyze Actionable Projects: Advance a portfolio of strategic, high-impact projects by surfacing barriers and identifying practical solutions to move them forward.
Build a Coalition: Activate the expertise in the room to forge cross-sector partnerships and mobilize support for implementation.
Define Next Steps: Leave the event with a preliminary view on the actions, owners, and timelines to ensure continued progress beyond May 8.
Key Materials
Project Summaries
Final Agenda
Participant Pre-Read Materials
Agenda (subject to change)
The following agenda outlines the schedule and structure for the May 8th convening. Please note the timing and plan to arrive by 8:30 AM for check-in.
Locations and some details are subject to change; final agenda will be confirmed at the event. All times Pacific.
8:30 AM - Door Open for Registration & Breakfast (UCSB, Corwin Pavilion)
9:30 AM - Welcome & Why We Are Here? Tim Hade, Brightfield Infrastructure
9:45 AM - Why Santa Barbara? Laura Capps, Santa Barbara County
9:55 AM - What Do We Hope to Accomplish? Susan Kish, Constructive
10:00 AM - What’s Possible? Part A. Project Pitches
10:45 AM - Break
11:00 AM - What’s Possible? Part B. Project Pitches
12:15 PM - Lunch (Lagoon Plaza - Outdoors)
1:00 PM - Why energy resiliency? Fireside Chat with Leah Stokes, UCSB & Jigar Shah, Multiplier
1:50 PM - How can investors meet the challenge? Rachel Halfaker, Milken Institute
2:00 PM - Working Sessions intro
2:15 PM - Working Sessions (Conference Rooms/Back of Corwin Pavilion)
3:45 PM - Break
4:00 PM - What’s Next? Projects (Corwin Pavilion)
4:45 PM - Close & After Party (Brass Bear Funk Zone)
What workshop am I in?
Wondering what workshop you are in? Check your name badge! You should see a number on your name badge that will correspond to your assigned working group. There are a total of 8 working groups for the Summit. Six working groups are located across conference rooms in the University Center (UCen) and two working groups will be located in the back of Corwin Pavilion. See below for working group locations.
Workshop Locations
Workshop 1: Santa Barbara City College Community Resilience Hub
Location: Goleta Valley
Workshop 2: UCSB District Heating & Cooling Efficiency Project: Clean Energy Master Plan
Location: State Street
Workshop 3: Santa Barbara County Food Bank Microgrid
Location: Lobero
Workshop 4: Rancho Goleta Lakeside Solar Microgrid
Location: SB Harbor
Workshop 5: Santa Barbara Clean Energy Initiatives: Local Power, Lasting Resilience: Solar + Storage for All
Location: Flying A Studio
Workshop 6: Doubleland Agrivolatics Project: Movable Solar for Agricultural & Energy Resilience
Location: SB Mission
Workshop 7: Dragon Wings Solar Generators
Location: Back of Corwin Pavilion
Workshop 8: SparkFund Distributed Capacity Procurement
Location: Back of Corwin Pavilion
Logistics
Location:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Corwin Pavilion
6085 UCEN Rd
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
For directions on getting to UC Santa Barbara, please refer to Visit UCSB.
Date & Time:
Thursday, May 8th, 2025
Start Time: 9:30am (sharp)
Doors Open for Registration: 8:30am
Parking & Transportation:
We recommend parking in Lot 22, which is about a 10 minute walk from Corwin Pavilion. There will be signs around campus directing you to this parking lot, as well as pedestrian signs on campus directing you from the parking lot to Corwin Pavilion. While we recommend parking in Lot 22, you are welcome to park in any visitor parking lot on campus.
All cars parked on campus must have a valid parking permit. Full day permits cost $8/day. Permits may be purchased online, through the ParkMobile app, or on campus at pay stations located in parking lots.
More information about visitor parking is available on the UCSB Transportation & Parking Services website.
Reception
Please note the new location for our reception, we are now meeting at the Brass Bear Brewing in the Funk Zone!
Brass Bear Funk Zone
28 Anacapa St unit E,
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Please note that street parking in downtown Santa Barbara can be limited, though there are paid public parking lots located near the Funk Zone. This includes the Garden Street Lot that is located near Brass Bear Funk Zone.
Reception Carpool
Want to cut down on carbon emissions or to help out another attendee? We are encouraging attendees to carpool to the reception after the summit. If you have the space, please consider offering to give a ride to other attendees who may need transportation.