For nearly 20 years, TransPower has been on the cutting edge of zero-emission, clean-tech heavy-duty powertrain technology - in short, creating electric-powered big rigs. 

Earlier in April, the company announced a major breakthrough - the completion of two multi-year projects in which they and one of the company's major investors successfully developed, tested, and evaluated advanced zero-emission electric yard tractors and Class 8 trucks. 

The success of the demonstration project puts TransPower one step closer towards the commercialization of cost-effective, environmentally friendly powertrain technology, said Joshua Goldman, TransPower's vice president of sales and marketing. 

"It's an honor after many years, many of us having worked for 20 years on zero-emission power train technologies, to be on the cusp of the commercialization of environmentally friendly drivetrain technology," Goldman said. "The biggest advantage of the technology is zero tailpipe emissions and the affordability of that homegrown electric fuel, and by going to zero emissions, our fleet partners are able to fuel their vehicles on site, operate vehicles in a clean and quiet environment, and help the branding of their company, given the strong sustainable message that zero-emission trucks provide."

TransPower's projects were funded in part by a $6 million grant from the California Energy Commission under its Alternative and Renewable Fuels and Vehicle Technologies Program, as well as investment from Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR), a leading manufacturer of axles and brake systems.

Yard tractors, commonly referred to as yard dogs, are semi-tractors that are used at locations such as cargo yards and warehouses to haul semi-trailers short distances. 

The electric yard tractors built under the recently concluded demonstration projects are operating at Dole Fresh Fruit's terminal at the Port of San Diego; the IKEA Distribution Center in Tejon; Grimmway Farms and Harris Ranch in the San Joaquin Valley; and Blue Diamond Almonds and Raley's in Sacramento. They have already accumulated more than 15,000 drive hours, a huge step towards validating that the electric drive trains can handle the workload of their gas-powered counterparts. 

The project's success has brought TransPower major interest from some of the world's biggest players in the commercial truck manufacturers and parts suppliers, including Kalmar Ottawa, Peterbilt, O.E.M. Company, and Meritor, which increased its strategic investment in the company to accelerate the production of the trucks and yard tractors. 

TransPower has received grants and contracts to convert 100 additional yard tractors and trucks to electric drive for use in California. They've operated in Escondido since 2016, after moving from Poway, and Goldman said the company has really enjoyed its new home. 

"It's been a great place to integrate technology, the permitting and politics have been favorable, and we were able to find great facilities and get them for a reasonable price," Goldman said. "And it's close to the boss's house," referring to founder and CEO Mike Simon, who actually started TransPower in his Escondido garage.

Baker Electric 

With year-round sunshine and an environmentally conscious population, California has been at the forefront of the residential solar industry.

Originally, solar-powered homes were on the fringe of the mainstream, considered financially out of reach for most homeowners.

But over the years, falling prices of electrical solar power, financial incentives for homeowners and developers to install them, and government requirements to include them on new development (California is the first state to require solar power for all new homes beginning this year) spurred an explosion in the residential solar industry over the past 15 years.

In Escondido, longtime electrical contractor Baker Electric seized the opportunity, starting Baker Electric Solar in 2007. Today Baker Electric Home Energy has become one of Southern California's largest installers of residential solar panel systems and home batteries. 

"When you look back to some of the first residential solar customers, the early days, a lot of reasons people did it were environmentally driven, it was a very green movement," said Keith Randhahn, Baker Electric's Director of Engineering. "And that is still a motivation for a lot of the movement towards renewables. But beyond that, the financial return has helped the growth of the industry."

Randhahn said that the lower cost of solar energy and the ability now to capture energy in home batteries makes it a financially viable alternative to fossil fuel energy from the power grid.

"People are able to consume power and live the lifestyle they like, run the air conditioning in their home when they want and not feel guilty about it," Randhahn said. 

For Baker, a fourth-generation family-owned company that has been in business since 1938, the move into residential solar has proven to be a boon: the company's solar division has grown from a dozen employees in 2007 to more than 200 currently, and all of the electricians are union-trained, setting them apart from many of their competitors, Randhahn said. 

And the company practices what it preaches: in 2009, Baker installed an 85,000-watt rooftop installation that reduces the company's carbon dioxide emissions by 106 tons annually. Over 25 years, that's roughly the equivalent of planting 2,275 trees or taking 507 cars off the road. 

The company, which ranks No. 1 in market share in the Southern California service area, has installed over 10,000 residential solar systems. Recently, Baker Electric Home Energy hosted State Sen. Brian Jones, who learned about their growth, diversification, and the recent move into their new 50,000-square-foot division headquarters.

Escondido has been a perfect location, Randhahn said. 

"It's perfectly situated and central, which allows us to reach south Orange County, southwest Riverside County, and the Inland Empire and cover a pretty broad geographic territory," Randhahn said. "And it has a very business-friendly environment, sufficient workforce, and a well-educated population."

Bimbo Bakeries USA

When Lorenzo Servitje founded Mexican bakery Grupo Bimbo in 1945, he did it with an eye towards sustainability.

"It was his purpose to build a sustainable, highly productive, and deeply humane company," said Leslie Adebayo, the corporate sustainability manager for Grupo Bimbo's US company, Bimbo Bakeries USA. "The company still lives by that motto, our current CEO, Lorenzo's son, believes it is imperative that we focus on sustainability."

That commitment to environmental sustainability trickles down to each of the company's bakeries, including its Escondido location near Palomar Medical Center.  On March 28, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presented the company with a certificate from its Energy Star Program after earning Energy Star certification at 14 of its facilities in 2018, including the Escondido bakery. 

This marks a record for the most facilities receiving Energy Star certification in one year across all industries. The certification signifies that the industrial plant performs in the top 25% of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meets strict energy efficiency performance levels set by Energy Star. 

The Escondido bakery will also likely receive recognition of its own in the next few months for completing the Energy Star Challenge for Industry, which calls on industrial sites to reduce their energy intensity by 10 percent within 5 years.

As one can expect, baking bread is an energy consuming task, using large amounts of natural gas and electricity in the baking process, Adebayo said. 

At the Escondido bakery and other locations, Bimbo has cut down on electrical usage by installing a system that shuts down the plant's system of conveyor belts - which are operated by 150 motors at any given time - when nothing is on the bakery line. 

"In a 24/7 operation, that adds up significantly," Adebayo said. "They have it at Escondido and are implementing it at every bakery. It's not always the easiest thing to implement, but Escondido was perfect, and the system has worked great."

The other big energy-saving addition at the Escondido plant came in 2017 by the way of a one-megawatt solar array. Covering the full roof area and some of the plant's covered parking, the system produces one-third of the power needed to operate the plant. 

"It has been a tremendous boon," Adebayo said. "The solar array helped us drop the energy by 10 percent, meeting the Energy Star Challenge."

Bimbo's sustainability mantra extends to its commitment to being good neighbors in the city in which they operate. 

In Escondido, Adebayo said, they produce a relatively low amount of waste and use a catalytic oxidizer that eliminates the "bread smell" - and associated carbon dioxide emissions - from escaping the plant.

"We've been good partners with the city," Adebayo said. 

The three businesses represent just a microcosm of the environmentally conscious firms and companies throughout the city - including the city itself. With the combined efforts, Escondido continues to do its part to leave the earth a little greener and a little better.

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