Ellie Redding, Electric Vehicles, California
Ellie Redding, who has been in the industry for 2 years, is a Senior Software Engineer at ChargerHelp.
Why is clean energy important to you? In order to mitigate climate change, it's absolutely crucial that we transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy. I was drawn to clean energy specifically because I feel it's one of the biggest areas of opportunity for my particular skill set (software and data engineering) to make an impact.
What's a memorable clean energy project you’ve worked on? At ChargeNet, I built a program that controlled our onsite battery and EV chargers to optimize our energy usage, reducing both energy costs and our carbon footprint. It was a very fun way to learn about energy physics, working with the grid, and the industry generally. And it was really cool to see the impact that smart software can have!
What did you do prior to working in clean energy? Why did you transition to the clean energy industry? My first job out of college was with a startup in the book industry. I loved the company and our work, and it was a great place for me to learn and grow my skills. But I started to get more and more afraid of climate change. We're seeing the effects of climate change impacting people around the world every day, and it's becoming clear how urgently we must act to prevent the worst-case scenarios. The more I learned about this, the more I felt that I needed to spend my working hours doing something about it.
What do you wish more people knew about the clean energy industry? There is so much work to do! We have a lot of opportunity in front of us, and we need people with different perspectives, backgrounds, and skill sets to grow the industry equitably and sustainably.
Why should congress invest in clean energy jobs? The transition to clean energy is inevitable, but the sooner we make that transition, the better the outcomes -- for climate change, but also for public health, energy independence, and economic opportunity. It's especially important that we support an equitable transition, providing opportunities in clean energy for the communities that have been most impacted by the effects of climate change and harmful fossil fuels.
